Echo
by TheRoadtoDawn
Summary: Going through a long hiatus right now. If you want to, read it, though I don't see much point in it, seeing as I'm going to just about completely change it. If not, well then: please try again later.
1. Dreams

*** I'm dedicating this one to Roxy, because she's helped me a lot with this. So anyways, read, review, and enjoy!

I own nothing, but a few characters. All the rest (KH people and details about KH) belong to square enix… I also don't own a few sayings in this either… ***

Chapter one- Dreams

I lay, wrapped in the blankets of sleep.

Some say, your spirit leaves your body when you are at rest, when you are most vulnerable. I believe in it a little… but… _where _would your spirit go? It always seems, that beneath my eyelids, I'm in a dark, peaceful realm, but in time, it comes to an end… and then you wake up… wake up only to find all the misery in this world. But… where do _dreams _come from? I'm starting to have dreams again, but, they're always the same… don't normal people have different dreams?

I'm always falling… sometimes the whereabouts change, but other than that… just falling... silhouettes of trees, and sometimes the moon… and there's always the sudden crack of death. I always wake up screaming, night after night, clutching the sheets around me. My brother does the best he can to help me, but I always snap on him… then I feel horrible.

I open my eyes, and roll onto my back, the sheets tightening around my stomach. I'm scared that if I fall asleep… I'll have the dream again… _But it's just a dream…_

I sigh, fold my arms over my chest, and close my eyes.

Through the darkness of sleep, a light emerges, and my hollow vessel is filled with emotions and sensations so quickly, I feel like it's whip-lash. It seems like I'm whistling through the air. My throat is soar from screaming. I'm afraid, and I don't know why, I never have the answer. I can hear nothing over the wind in my ears, and my heart is beating louder and faster than ever… I think, because, there's only darkness… the moon has evaded me.

With mounting anticipation, my heart's beating so fast, I feel like it's going to beat its way out of my chest. As if cued, I feel the sensation of a splintering death.

I don't notice it at first, but someone's shaking my shoulders and calling my name, growing in strength. I gasp for air as my dream is torn from me. I'm shaking and sweat drenched pajamas cling to my skin. Before I know it, I'm sitting upright, a glass of water at my lips, and an arm wrapped around my shoulders.

I quickly drain the glass, and begin to take deep, but staggering, breaths. _I hate this… I feel weak, like a child amongst the grown. _My brother is succeeding in calming my emotions, even though his face is masked by the darkness of the room. He's five years younger than I, but almost taller… sometimes I think he's braver too…

The older, but capable, having to be cared for by their younger sibling… feels, shameful… but, at least there's someone there for me… I sigh, and nod to him that I'll be okay.

"Thank-you… Tai…"

I see him nod to me through the darkness, and he climbs into his own bed. I'm suddenly afraid… _What if… one day… he won't be there for me anymore? _I push the thought out of my mind. I don't want to think about it, after all, I promised my parents I'd take care of him.

I mumble his name, which, surprisingly, instantly draws his attention. He looks over at me with his innocent, phosphorescent blue eyes, and goes to fill the glass again.

"Do you just want me to get you a bell so you can ring for me whenever you wish?" he asked tiredly, but I picked up the sarcasm in his voice right away. I just laugh, and shake my head. He ruffles my hair after he gives me my glass, and plops down on his bed, springs squealing. I couldn't see his expression, but I wish I had. My eyes begin to droop, and I yawn.

I lay silently, listening to Tai's steady breathing. I don't remember when he fell asleep, but I had been awake since, unable to sleep myself. I sigh, rubbing my eyes. I can't stand it anymore, so I slide out of bed.

The floor is illuminated, but only just. I tread as softly as I possibly can, hoping not to wake my brother. The wood is cool under my feet. I step into the soft light.

I sat there for who knows how long, but I had gotten up once so I could get a shower. I am now back, sitting under the window, bathed in blue light. I combed through my damp hair with my fingers, looking up through the cracked glass at the dark, morning sky. I must have dozed off for a little while, because when I open my eyes again, the sky is lighter.

I stand up, and quickly get changed. Tai's still asleep when I'm lacing my Wayfinder around my neck. I slip my socked feet into my black converse, and look up to my brother, still sprawled across his springy bed.

A smile spreads across my face, and I walk slowly up to him, towering over the side of the old bed. I poke him, on the cheek, and he grumbles, swatting at me. He rolls away slightly, and then lays silently. I shake my head, clicking my tongue.

"TAI!" I yell, shaking his side. He mumbles, his face pushed into the pillow. I yank off the covers.

"Whaaaaaat?" He tries pushing me away, while trying to find his confiscated blankets.

"Get UP!"

"Nooooo..." he moans, flailing his arms at me. I try to drag him from the bed, but he grips the headboard.

"God... you're like a teenage girl who hates the morning..."

"Shut-up..."

I let go of his ankles; he releases his grip on the headboard. I sigh.

"What-ever Tai..."

He mumbles angrily at me. I shrug; stay silent for a moment, waiting for him to think I gave up, and... The springs gritted against one another as I leap onto its surface, literally flinging Tai into the air. He hits me... and he glares at me, and then a smile splits his frown, and we laugh... laughed until it hurt...

I lay on my bed, reading a book while Tai sat at the table working on the homework I had given him. _I've had to home school him since our parents vanished. _I sigh deeply, turning the page_. We used to live in the Third District, when our parents were still here… We had the finest schooling and clothing, there were malls everywhere around town… it was a young girl's paradise… and maybe my brother's too. _I smile, turning another page in my book._ The Third District was basically, "The Center Town". Many people from the Second District came to the third to shop and for conversation. There were also bakeries galore… and you can't imagine all of the restaurants… _I almost lick my lips thinking about it_. We had the best hospitals too… I guess it could also be called "Down Town"… We lived in a rather large house before _it_ happened… and then after…? Well, we received news, and then we were exiled here, the First District, "Home of the Criminals and Exiles"… So, bottom line, the First District serves as a jail. We have almost no kitchenware, except for a sink and a few _rusty_ pieces of silverware. The stove is broken, and the showerheads spurt freezing water… _I sigh in anger, my jaw clenched._ It's an oven in summer, and a freezer in winter. I'm literally sweating right now._

I sit up; my arms were getting tired of holding my book above my head._ We don't have an incredibly terrible living space. There's a table in the middle of the room, the "bathroom" on the right side, my right at this moment, and a small "kitchen station" on the left corner of the room. There's also the window, but cracked, that I was sitting under this morning. _I cross my legs, the bed squeaking._ And the beds are terrible. _I sigh deeply_. That mostly covers that… I rant too much. _I look over the rim of my book at Tai, focused in his studies._ Every time I start ranting… _I let a smile cross my face_, Tai always threatens with a smack. He has good reason of course. _I look back down at the ink words.

_She has it worse… _I think to myself._ The character in this story… lives in the Twelfth District… What's with all of the districts? _I chuckle_. She lives in the district that does the coal mining… Many die there, either from starvation or- _I look up again, for a moment. Tai's almost finished…_ She took the place of her father when he died in the mine accident, and hunts illegally, outside the district's electric fences (that protect the town from wild animals) so she can feed her family._

No wonder Tai says I'm like her… I look down at the page, brow furrowed._ Tai sometimes calls me "Cat Nip"… since hers was the same…? Her first friend thought she said _that_, and blabady blah, blah, blah… instead of "Katniss", her _real_ name…_

I set my book on the bedside table, and stretch, attempting to touch my toes, my Wayfinder dangling from my neck. When I look up, Tai is looking at me with raised eyebrows. He shakes his head, and turns back to his books. I laugh to myself, and straighten up.

The sun is peering through the window, bright rays piercing the shadows. It softly illuminates my brother's face as he continues to work. I walk over to him, and peer over his shoulder. He looks up at me for a moment, and then turns away again. I ruffle his already messy black hair. He mumbles at me to go away. I don't listen.

I sit at the table, almost finished correcting Tai's math, while he sits next to me, reading a book… I sigh deeply, attempting to curl my hair around my ears… Tai looks up at me over the rim of the book, but quickly loses interest.

"You've pretty much caught up with me here…" I say peering down at him. I pull the textbook closer to me, studying the two problem's compatibility. _If only I had a teacher's book… _I hear Tai's stomach grumble. It's far past dinnertime… I sigh again and stare down at him sympathetically.

"I'm sorry Tai, I really am…"

"How come _you_ don't get hungry, Andrea?" He says, an almost pained expression on his face. I breathe deeply, looking to him, then back at his work.

I peer up at him through my bangs; _it's been a while since he's called me by my real name._ I look back down at the page,"I don't know… Guess… I've just… adapted?" I look down at him again, my expression knitted into one of question. He shrugs, and looks back to the words. I raise my own gaze to the window, the sky blackened. The sun has fallen, and another day has passed with little or no food. My stomach surrenders to its grumbling.

"I'll try to get a pass tomorrow so I can get to some kind of food store in the Second District…"

He looks up at me and nods, his eyes drooping. After a few minutes, he heads for bed. I wait until he's under the covers, and until the lamp is off. I look back to the window, and close the textbook without even looking at it. I press myself against the glass, the moon peering down at me… that's when I notice to glass is freezing, and my breath is leaving fog on its surface… _It's supposed to be… the middle of the summer…_

**A/N**: I think I'll leave off here… hope you all like this revise so far… but yea… don't forget to comment! Thankies! Oh, and by the way, you pronounce the main character's name like this: And-ray-uh


	2. Escape

Echo- A Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction

Chapter 2- Escape

I turn from the window quickly, and amidst my haste, I run myself straight into the table. It shakes, and the books fall to the floor with a dull _thud… _I suppress the line of curses that should have followed, resorting to hopping around on one foot clutching my "impaled" leg… hissing "Fffffffffffff…" all the while.

I'm still hopping around when I see Tai sitting straight as a board, his eyes literally glowing in the darkness.

"What the hell just happened?" Tai's voice shakes. I scowled, brow furrowed. Still rubbing my injured leg, I peer up at him.

"Your big sister hit her leg on an inaudiable object."

"You mean _inanimate_?" he scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"Yah that… whatever…"

"Hmph…"

"I'm going to go check something out, okay? I'll be right back…"

"Whatever…" Tai yawns, and says nothing more. I straightened up, and let my eyes adjust to the dimness of the room. I weave a path around the table, and run to the dresser. I quickly search through the contents, and find the black sweater I was looking for. I pull my arms through the sleeves, and make sure I'm still wearing my metal, star-shaped charm. I run to the door, and slip my feet into the black converse and make sure the brass key is still in my pocket. I pause before the door, my fingertips brushing the knob. Even _that _is cold to the touch… I slowly twist the handle, and step into to cold night breeze. I stand in the middle of a vacant road… a back alley to be specific… _All that separates my house, and my neighbor's from the vast forest ahead of me, is the little, dirt path. It's helpful really… living this close to the forest… because I don't have to travel far, which means, food is near-by… unless it hides from you… that would be why I have to sometimes turn to the marketplaces… but you might as well serve yourself up a platter of dirt, than go to town markets _here…I stretch, fingertips pointed skyward. _I always need to get myself a stinking pass just to pass through boarders… I bet no one from the Second or Third Districts need passes… _

I begin to shiver violently as I turn to lock the door behind me… The frigid wind whistles eerily down the road, blowing my hair about my face, cloaking it in an auburn haze. I notice the plants have withered, the grass brown, the trees dying. _Something is wrong… terribly wrong... _I set off down the dirt path, realizing it is now frozen in ice. I almost slip a couple of times, and when I've reached the end of the road, I stop…

I start back towards my home, my legs shaking from cold. I hug my torso, and I quicken my pace, so much as that I won't fall… My breath comes out as thick fog, and I feel as though if I move one more muscle, it shall snap and shatter like ice on concrete… I walk under patches of moonlight, leaving shadows in my wake. _I usually find peace amidst the darkness… but I don't feel safe… I don't like this; I don't like this at all…_

I stand in the middle of the road, my purple legs shivering in the cold night air. I look up at the sky, sprinkled with salt. I rub my arms vigorously, _what _am _I doing standing out here? _ I start off again, and just as I reach the door, the ground shakes, and I freeze in my place. I strain to listen, and all of a sudden, the forest erupts in flame. The smoke hides the moon from my view as a shadow passes. One scream comes after the other as people of the First District awake.

My fingers fumble with the key, my entire being shaking. I look nervously over my shoulders, the sky red with dawn but blotted with smoke. I choke on the ash, and I become frantic, so frantic, that I resort to kicking the door down.

Tai's POV

I awake to ash and fire, red beams of light flooding through the window. I almost fly from the bed, sending the sheets drifting to the floor.

It's not until now, that I notice force upon the door. I stand, rigid, my eyes red from the dry atmosphere. I search for my sister, but her bed is vacant. I search frantically around the room, my eyes searching for something, _anything! _

I run to the door and find that I can't turn the handle... _it's jammed_. I curse under my breath. _Where's a damn axe when you need one?_

"_Tai!_"

The sound comes from the other side of the door. I hear my name called twice more with quick succession.

"Andrea?" My voice cracks, and it's sore. I try to regain moist in my mouth. My sister is screaming my name, kicking the door. I can hear it weakening. She finally succeeds, kicking right through the wood, sending cracks branching across the surface. We then snap it in two. Andrea literally barrels me over, charging through the make-shift opening.

Andrea's POV

My ears ring, and my mind is dazed as our two bodies collide. We land on the floor with a loud _thud. _Tai rolls to the side and scrambles to his feet, his red-and-silver Wayfinder dangling from his neck. He's breathing heavily, hunched over, as I lay spread across the floor. I stare blankly up at the ceiling, which glows with a dull red.

I groan as I'm pulled to my feet, I shake my head to clear it, and hold it in my hands. Tai urges me to follow him, but I just stand there. I peer through the spaces between my fingers and gasp when I realize I'm weaponless. I tear through the drawers.

"What hare you doing? We must get out of here! What are you thinking_?"_

"_**Looking for something!**__"_

"I'm aware of that…" he says softly, but with an edge all the same.

"Ugh," I groan, and continue to tear through the drawers, and then turn to the bedside table, "My 'switchblade.'" _It's not really a 'switch'-blade… really it's just a shard of metal- that I found laying around the house- sharpened into a knife that has a strap of leather for a pommel… _I find it hidden in a pair of socks, along with its make-shift sheath. I grab them both, and drag an anxious Tai out the door.

It's like I step out onto the road leading to Hell…

My lungs fill with smoke and ash as the wind currents urge the fires on. I clutch Tai's wrist as we stand there, the forest rapidly succumbing to ash. We're pushed around as people run down the path- the ice on it has melted by now.

_If you've never seen Hell… or possibly only ever imagined it… this is what it'd be like… A bitter, never ending darkness, filled with cold… a lifeless cold… bonded with hate and rage… fires, are born from that rage, and they consume everything… That's what I believe… I believe, what Hell _was_… was once Heaven… but was tainted by the evil people brought… and the darkness of it changed the beautiful land into but a waste… Then Heaven was rebuilt… rebuilt by those who were worthy… _

_Yes… this is definitely hell…_

The wind rushes over my face and my ears ring with the screams of the people. Tai shakes my shoulder, blinking his eyes rapidly to keep ash out of his eyes. I do the same.

I take a sweeping glance around me, the fire has now caught to the houses, and the people are pouring from their homes like blood… They are screaming, and crying, running rampant like angered ants. I beckon to my brother, and we run down the street, leaving the door swinging open, for who would take time to rob a burning building?

The heat of flame runs down my spine as our feet pound upon the path, my brother and I. The others have taken main roads, dispersing into the light, where as my brother and I take back roads, becoming one with the night. We are more at risk here, but we may have a better chance at getting out of here than those on their way to the gates… I know they'll be barred…

There are no crickets out at this hour… I know it's a weird thing to be thinking about… but I almost miss their presence… I trip over my feet, almost bringing Tai down with me. I stagger, but regain my balance.

I'm panting, my hands on my knees, my body heaving as I'm hunched over. Tai is all ready ahead of me, but I hear him turn and run back. He grabs my wrist, coaxing me to continue.

"Think of it as a race…" he said, voice quavering, but he was trying to add humor to it… but it wasn't working… not in this circumstance… I get my breathing under control, and straighten up.

"Race you…" my voice barely audible, but he hears it all the same…

We've been running for what seemed like eternity. My legs are sore, and my eyes were so dry from the ash, that not even tears could help… I would have stopped a few times, if Tai hadn't forced me to continue… I thank him in my heart, but my displeasure registers in my eyes. I tried not to let him see…

The sky looks like it's stained with blood. I thought it might be from fire, because if it were dawn, the sun should have had risen a _long _time ago… I tare my gaze from the sky, fire illuminating our path. Tai was slowing down, and I was regaining strength… _Funny how that works… _I coax him forward as I try to figure out were we are. We're almost near the gates, and I wonder if we had taken an accidental detour… I take a sweeping gaze across my surroundings, watching the forest continue burning… _The forest has been at our side for almost the whole time… _Then I realize where we are. The forest is departing on one side, replaced by a block of run-down houses, and as we run farther down the street, I take a sharp turn. We find ourselves at the mouth of a tight alleyway, barely large enough for us to walk abreast.

I look it up and down as the sky fills with the sound with the likes of a rumbling volcano. _Meteorites… __**Damn it! **_There's no time to second-guess, we take a headlong dive into the space between the buildings. I'm disappointed when I realize this isn't the right one… _where could it be? _

I had found an alleyway sometime back, which served as a "side door" to this district. I didn't have time to investigate, but I could see a great forest beyond, _yes, there are _a lot _of forests… _But there was a lot of muck there… discarded trash long forgotten, two dumpsters full of debris still decomposing… and there was this god-awful tang in the air… I shudder at the thought. It was probably set there to discourage citizens… then I begin to worry that Tai will object. We wait until the meteorites slow to emerge, but now I have to watch the ground for blazing shadows. _The alley has to be somewhere up ahead… _

I've become restless, and extremely worried. A bone shivering cold sweeps through the area, even though the fires continue to spread. _This place is unpredictable… What's even _happening_? _I instantaneously stop in my tracks, and Tai runs into me, almost bouncing off of my back.

"What? What's wrong?"

"What's going to happen to us?" I say, not turning back to look at him. It seems as though time has been put on pause… the meteorites don't seem to cease, but it's like they hang in the air for a few minutes. Tai walks to my side, I stare at my feet.

"It'll be worse if we just stand here…"

"I know," I sigh and raise my gaze to the red sky.

"Let's go Kat,"

I gasp,_ the book… It's too late now… _I sigh and hang my head. I nod and start off in a trot.

We run through the streets, time racing against us. I almost fall in my haste, and I'm shaking like a leaf in a soft breeze. My ears pop as the meteorites torture me… then one hits far to close, and without warning. It tares the earth from beneath me, and I feel as though I'm flying… and then I fall, and I hit the ground with extreme force. Tai lay a few feet from me.

Blood was running down my neck... Everything around me seemed slow, sounds echoing, muffled, even my heart was beating with a dull _thud... thud... thud.._. Another meteorite hits and tares the earth near by... It seemed as though the ground itself had caught fire… My sight grows fuzzy, blurry, and I can barely see…

We lay there… _I didn't know if we were going to die… but I guess we wouldn't be missed… _I cough, tasting blood in my mouth…

"Tai...?" My voice soft, bleak...

I struggle to reach for his hand, but grow limp as soon as my fingers brushed his…

* * *

**A/N**: I'll leave them laying there, and you hanging here for the time being… but um the people who have read my original version, be sure to tell me what you liked/disliked about my revise so far… Thankies!


	3. Dark Creatures

Echo- A Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction

Chapter 3- Dark Creatures

I cough, hacking up ash. I can barely breathe, it feels as through two holes have been blown in my lungs… I roll to the side, disrupting the dried blood upon my skin. I push myself up by my elbows, and looking around myself, I see Tai curled at my side. The meteorites seem to have been put on hold, and the ground has stopped shaking… and… it's silent… My brow knits into an expression of concern and confusion. I nudge Tai, we _need _to get moving before the world decides to throw a fit again…

The alley _has _to be close by… I sigh, stand, and brush dirt from my legs. My body aches, and my head is heavy… but… how am I able to stand? I bend down and shake Tai's shoulder gently. He lays silently, and I'm panic-stricken. I kneel beside him, and call his name.

My heart is beating wildly in my chest, and when he moans, I sigh with relief and pull him to his feet. I serve as a crutch. We slowly make our way down the barren street. Tai becomes less and less dependent on me, and soon, he's able to support his own weight, but only just.

Tai collapses by my feet, and I almost cry with frustration. I notice I'm still clutching my weapon and sheath, and quickly strap it around my thigh. I then lean down and drape Tai's arm over my shoulder. I force him to his feet, and I realize that meteorite had injured him more than I had thought.

I literally have to drag him down the dusty street. Everything is eerily silent. My eyes wander warily through the roads and between the houses. Then I see it… and I can already smell its malodorous stench… I can feel Tai grimace, his eyes held closed, and I tow him along. This alley is a little larger than the last one, but only a very small difference… Tai pulls back, tugging at my shoulder, a small gesture, his hand weak.

"Tai, this is our _only _way out of here…"

"Why can't we go to the gates?" his voice soft.

"Because it's barred," and before he can reply, I continue bitterly, "An easy way to get rid of criminals…"

"Hmm…" he sighs, and laughs bitterly, "Agreed…" His voice is sleepy… _I need to think of something… to wake him up…_

"Imagine that… you… hmmm…"

"What…?"

"Imagine that you'll meet… uh…"

"A favorite actress…? Or Character…?"

"Yah, that," I sigh with laughter. "Either that, or run as though Zevran is chasing you," He instantly straightens, "Or both…" Zevran was one of my favorite characters from a game I used to play a _long _time ago… when we still lived in the third district… Thinking back that far… it feels as though that happened a century ago…

"I'm up, I'm up… let's just get this over with…" I head forward, Tai is still at the entrance, leaning against one of the brick walls. I turn in confusion.

"We're wasting time… what's wrong?"

"… I'm bare-foot…" I look at his feet… it's true… he doesn't wear shoes to bed… I sigh heavily.

"You can wash them later… ugh… do you care more about getting dirty, or about your life?" I inquired. Tai took a deep breath, and steps forward. I turn back around.

I kicked a few garbage cans, having to grope along the wall for support; I couldn't see more than three feet in front of me. It had gotten dark for some bizarre reason. The sky was as dark as the blackest black. It's doesn't help that I'm in a small and tight crevice… the only light was behind me… lamps that still stood… _how was that possible? _I could feel the noxious mire seeping into my socks, and I almost started dancing in discomfort, but I think of my brother who is bare foot. I cringe.

I'm so preoccupied with trying my hardest _not _to fall face down in the mud, that I don't notice a low hiss. I thought it may have been wind, seeing as a cold burst of air flooded the little opening.

"Andrea…?"

"What?" I ask irritated, my foot catching on something.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I ask, turning to face him. The "wind" hisses again.

"_That!" _

"Hun, it's just the wind…" I turn back around, and wade blindly through the mire.

_Swoosh…!_

The wind swirled around our bodies, and Tai's anxious breathing made me uneasy myself.

_Swoosh…!_

"See? _There!"_

"Tai, shut up!" I hiss over my shoulder. He clings to my arm, but I don't mind his strained grip. I scan the area before me. I realize my breath is making white smoke, and I can barely feel my purple legs. The first thoughts I have of being cold, uncontrollable shivers descend upon my spine. Tai griped my arm even tighter, probably hoping to stop the shivers...

The winds stopped, but anxiety remained. I slowly started forward, and was spooked by our own footsteps. I swore I was hearing things. I finally reached the back, and as I had predicted, there stood two forgotten dumpsters, the waste still pungent. But what I hadn't anticipated, some-what disappointed me… An aluminum fence, rusty from time and rain, stood towering over us, which was at least four times my height.

"What are we going to do…?" Tai asked, so softly that it sounded as if he had only sighed. I shrug off his grip and wade through the trash and mud, to the far East corner. I inspected the foot of the fence and soon found a weak link.

"How do you feel about digging?" I inquired, glancing over my shoulder. _Every young boy's dream, right? Dig to destroy? _

Tai walked over and crouched beside me. He wrinkled his nose. I think of his age, and once again, realize that he is not ten anymore, but fourteen... I sigh, and jump as another meteorite shakes the ground.

He gives me a look as if to say, _'Are you insane?', _but then he makes out my expression through the dark.

"Alright, alright," he sighs and he pushes me aside. I stand, my knees coated in a fine layer of mud and sweat. After a few minutes, Tai stands too. He examines the trench that he had made, almost proud.

"Well… oh, just get through!" I say impatiently, and just before he is able, the "wind" rushes again, though it is more of a snarl… now I'm afraid. I push Tai towards the fence as a creature descends upon us.

It raises out of a cloud of smoke and darkness… It's frail. The ribs are freakishly pronounced, and its limbs long. It stands stooped, its spine in a painful arch… My eyes are wide as it somewhat straightened itself, and stares at me with blood-shot eyes, and I want to look away, only I can't bring myself to…

It twists as long, crimped antennas unfurl. It reminds me of a bunny… _Well… a dark, twisted, demented bunny… _It's not until the thing starts towards us that I scream for my brother to run.

He quickly slides under the fence, and the creature lunges with speed greater than my own. I manage to doge its attack, crouching as I unleash my 'switchblade'. I strike its arm when it comes at me again, and I kick hard enough to send it a few paces aback. I fumble with the blade as I quickly run to the fence. Tai is screaming my name, begging me to hurry. I manage to shove the blade into its sheath, just before I reach the fence.

The musk of the cramped area is almost too overwhelming, and it's hard for me to do something as simple as moving. I literally take a nosedive, and I'm halfway under the fence when the creature latches onto my leg. I scream as the diseased nails fracture my skin. My flesh pulls as it drags me backwards. _I feel like prey being pulled into a cave… _

Tai screams my name and it's too late to stop him, because he's already crawling under the fence. My sight is limited to the ground, and it doesn't help that my eyes are welling with tears. I hear Tai's slipping footsteps as he comes at us. I now realize he's holding a brick high above his head. _I don't want to see him get hurt… because… I promised to take care of him… _

Fear looms in my mind, flooding my chest… but it gives me strength… _because it's my _job _to protect him…_

Liquid spreads across my cheeks as I scream for him to run… to please run… I scramble to my feet, flustering the beast in the process, but catching its nails on my arms. I hit it hard with my fist, and it lets its last hold on me drop. I dash a few paces away, clutching my arm, blood seeping between my fingers.

It leers at me from behind its fingers, and before my brother can reach us, its clawed hands catches my hair and pulls be back again. I grunt, clutching the roots of my hair to reduce the pain spreading across my scalp. It sends me to the ground, holding me down with its knee.

It forces me to stare up at my brother, and my neck is strained, and I'm crying again because it feels as though I have a knife embedded in my back. _Please... _I want to say... _please Tai, just get out of here... _and I feel the nails scrape against my face, piercing tissue, and it feels as though it's trying to crush my skull... and I hear Tai scream.

I begin to feel a dull throb on the left side of my face, particularly my jaw. Tears are in my eyes as my mouth fills with blood, and I see Tai still coming towards us. The creature takes up my head again, and I hear a crack as pain begins to sketch across my skull…

* * *

I open my eyes, and find that I'm laying on my back, laying on soft ground. I don't even know if my eyes are open or not… _Ugh… _I bring my hand to my forehead. The pain is unbelievable… The air is cold, the sky is dark… and I'm alone… and then I wonder… _who am I…?_


	4. Green Eyes

**A/N**: Okay, hello peoples, this is the fourth chapter of my story, glad to have you all back!

**Roxy**: Hey, when do I come in?

**Reese (me)**: In a little while, it's only the fourth chapter… probably in about three chapters….

**Roxy**: Aww… okay then. May as well tell the readers… Reese's putting in oc's based on some of her friends. Rosy, Emmy, and Tay will also have characters too…

**Reese**: There may be some random oc's too… but yah… Oh, and a new character is introduced in this chapter…

**Roxy**: Axel!

**Reese**: Where?

**Roxy**: Okay, so anyways, onto the disclaimer, Reese does not own Kingdom Hearts or any of it's characters, cause if she did… Let's just move on… Well, anyways, read and enjoy. Don't forget to comment!

**Reese**: I'll give you a cookie!

* * *

Echo: A kingdom hearts fan fiction

Chapter 4- Green Eyes

Part 1

**Tai's pov**

Fear racked through me as I stare into her cloudy eyes. Her once beautiful face now lay scared, blood running down the side of her head, her jaw unhinged. Its red eyes glisten through the dark, my sister limp in its arms. My lip curls with sheer anger. A blood-chilling scream echoed through the alley… and I notice it's not just her, but me too.

I had almost reached her when the dark thing held her head in it's hands. My throat clogged with fear as I watched it crack my sister's skull against the brick walls.

My throat is already sore from the screaming this thing has drawn… and my arms tremble with cold. My arm has fallen to my side, the brick discarded. The… _thing_ tosses my sister to the floor, and I growl, almost like dog… I don't know what to do. Andrea stirs, but the… _I want to say… it's a Neoshadow… _it ignores her movements.

It slowly wades through the mud like it had all the time in the world… and it's now an arm's length away.

**Andrea's pov**

The first thing I feel, is pain. My head hurts like someone's repeatedly stabbing it with a blunt object. My limbs tremble as I try to heave myself from the soft, wet ground, but I can't… I'm too weak…

My sight is blurry as I look up from muddy ground, I can only see faint silhouettes from where I lay, almost folded in on myself. My heart thundered in my ears and I taste blood. _My blood..._ my mind is reeling, trying to find any possible solution.

The pain is unbearable, and it's welling up in my chest, threatening to overflow into a sob. There's nothing more I want to do than get out of here. There's the sound of a struggle not far off, and quite frankly, it's freaking me out… Whatever "me" _is…_

I feel like I'm blind, because I can only hear sounds. They keep away from me for the most part, but one time they got too close, and I had to roll away, but something latched onto my leg. I didn't cry out of pain, but shock… It's nails hurt… When whatever-it-is lets go, I reel backward, and a second shot of pain races through the back of my skull, and I wince._ What's happening?_ The question repeats.

I feel weak, and vulnerable, as I lay there, covered from head-to-toe in mud, unable to even lift myself from the ground. I peer through the fog in my vision, trying to see if I recognized the forms of the two at war… and suddenly there's a break in my vision. Not in present tense, but in memory… and I get a clear picture of the creature before my sight fails. I shudder. _I remember this creature... its eyes amidst the darkness._ I scrunched mine closed, struggling to remember... _but I can't remember... _Then I remember a child, and I look to see his silent silhouette amongst the mud... _Did I know him...?_ My gaze snaps forward as I hear a snarl of the fiend.

_I'm going to die... _

DARKNESS...

* * *

I'm spread out over the muddy ground like a bloody sheet. Everything is too loud, even my own heart beat... The earth is jostled, reminding me of the meteorites. I rise to my knees, groping along the ground, because I cannot tell if my eyes are open... or not. I'm thrown off balance when another meteorite hits, and I'm forced into a quicker retreat. I'm crawling as quickly as I can as the malodorous stench steadily increases. I quicken my pace, running into trash bins long since discarded. I bump into a dumpster, which widens a wound, and I'm beckoned to give into the pain.

My hands brush against an aluminum fence, and I almost loose hope. I find a weak link and notice a trench has all ready been dug. I slide under easily, and collapse on the other side.

I wake to find that the sky has quieted for the time being. I blink my eyes and realize that my vision is somewhat better. My body is aching, and I feeling as though I am close to death, but for some reason, that I cannot comprehend, I stand and I walk into the blanket of trees.

These forests are familiar. I feel like I've traveled through them before... My vision flickers from time to time, but still, I proceed.

Darkness shrouds me as I stumble between trees, my steps barely muffled by the undergrowth. I feel like I'm being watched... I don't know how to explain the feeling... I breathe deeply, trying to calm myself.

Fallen pieces of mist rushed between the trees like water, my presence disrupting their paths, like a rock protruding the surface of water. My legs begin to shake, and I grow weary as time draws on. I trip on a protruding root, and nearly fall flat on my face. I'm breathing heavily, and I begin to realize I've fallen by a river. I feel the cold water piercing my skin, and through lashes, I can see the water steadily turn red. I slowly slide forward until my face is so close to the shallow stream, my nose almost brushing the surface. I rise to my knees, and splash water onto my face. I shiver from the cold, goose bumps erupting on my arms, and I shake as I reach for the hem of my shoulder-shirt. I slip it off, leaving me with a tank-top. My head is pounding, and my temperature feels like a hot flame.

I lay the tan cloth in the cold water, and I can see clumps of mud slipping off before I fold it up and tie it around my head. I almost jump at the cool relief, and I sigh. I force myself to my feet.

* * *

I'm shaking uncontrollably, and I swear that I can see every vein in my purple legs. I trip over a hidden root, and as I fall, the mist puffs like smoke. I sit there, the frosted plants brushing against my skin, my breath puffing, and I'm shaking like a trapped bird's wing beat.

I hug my legs and rock back and forth. _I don't ever remember it ever being _this _cold... _I shiver as I rest my head against my knees, my shirt wrapped around my head sliding out of place. The red stained cloth slipped into my view.

_... I should be dead... but I'm not. _I shook violently as a gust of wind swept through the forest. _Why am I not dead...? _I rub my arms, crusted in dry mud, mud as black as my tank top. Tears slip down my murky cheeks... _How had all of this happened? _More tears came as I was rocked by the wind.

_I smell death is close now... _

I pulled the stained shirt from my head. The shirt is still damp, either from blood or from the river, I don't know. I had to yank it onto my body. I rested my head on my knees and waited...

* * *

The skies had been silent for what seemed to be hours, so I nearly jumped out of my skin when to earth was rattled by a meteorite, and the sky filled with the sounds of its kin's shrieks. I look up from my knees, staring into the fire-red sky... I jump as the ground is shaken yet again. I crawl to my knees, and quickly rise from the frosted ground.

I stop mid-step as I realize that the trees are dead, scorched black, their leaves ashes. The smell of smoke seeps into my nose, and I feel like I'm suffocating.

_The forest is burning... Again? _I begin to run, hard.

I crash through the undergrowth, firelight reaching the corners of my vision.

By now, I was on all fours. The smoke was seeping into my lungs, so I crawled as closely to the ground as I could. The sweat makes my face feel runny, _where did all of this mud come from again...?_

I cough, feeling as though I'm hacking up a fir ball. My throat is burning from ash and the dry air brings tears to my eyes. I collapse in the dirt, and the only thing that gets me scrambling to my feet is the crack of fire...

I have to grope along the ground for I cannot see _anything_, clearly, that is_... everything's just like... a meshed, mangled... it looks like _soup _for crying out loud! _My fingers brush against outcropping roots, plants I can't see, and I bump into a tree, and just my luck, I then fall into nettles... I jump back, my hand stinging. It'll go away... _hopefully..._

I lean back on my heels, the sound of fire in the back of my mind. _I probably look like I crawled out of a rabbit hole... _Instinctively, I run my fingers through my messy, uneven hair...

_Pcheeew!_

Meteorites... _damn it! _I hear it hit the forest floor, tearing through the rocky soil...

_Pcheeew!_

_Damned rocks!_

I can hear the trees snapping... with ease like that of a toothpick snapping between one's fingers. But a _lot _louder...

_Pcheeew!_

I'm sprayed with earth as a near by tree topples over... _What if I get trapped? _My heart is beating so loud in my eardrums, that if I didn't know better, I would have thought _that_was making the earth rattle...

I try not to let my knees drag in the dirt because I can feel myself all ready slowing down. The threat the fire poses keeps me going.

_Just keep moving, keep moving, keep moving..._

My arms are shaking when I bump against a metal gate. I can tell the bars have rusted, so I'm scared of the possibility that I could get cut. The meteorites hit... a wall? Sending debris into the air, I flinch at the sound of impact, and that's when I notice the screams. I can hear the fire breathing behind me, the heat so close... the cracking and spark of trees... _Stupid forest fires…_ I yell at myself to run.

I push against the gate with my shoulder and am surprised when I hear the gate unlatch. It swings forward, leaving me behind. I'm shaking as I rise to my feet, slowly testing my strength.

I walk down a paved pathway, trying to stay in a straight line as much as possible, holding my arms out from my sides. I can barely feel my legs, so I'm afraid that I'll fall.

A shadow falls over me, and I know I'm close to the building. _I think it's a building... or maybe... just a wall? No, there wouldn't be a paved pathway... _I spread my arms out before me, so that I may not smack into something. My legs give in, and I have to crawl the rest of the way. My fingers brush against a smooth wooden... door? I rest my head on the surface, breathing heavily.

_I should be dead... shouldn't I?_

The meteorites are falling faster... _1,2,3... 4... 5,6,7,8..._

I can smell smoke arriving as fog; but still, I just sit there...

_13... 14, 15, 16... 17,18... 19... 20, 21, 22, 23, 24... They almost sound like fireworks..._

_... Then a firework hits too close..._

I'm thrown against the door, and I hear it crack from the sheer force of the impact. I'm soundlessly screaming as I'm propped on the door, holding my penetrated leg. The smell of charred flesh and fire is so overwhelming that I slip to the ground.

_More… blood..._

DARKNESS...

* * *

Part 2

_A blade…_

I shifted only slightly, and pain shot down my leg. I groaned, swallowing screams of agony.

_I had a blade…_

I patted my pockets, trying to shift least as possible.

_Where?_

A snarl fled my lips, and I screamed with anger when I find the empty sheath.

_Death has never been merciful… So why would I expect it too take pity on me, and free me from my pain?_

I began to cry with disappointment. _Maybe I had only imagined it… _I sighed with anger. I leaned against the wall, my eyes closed in surrender.

_This isn't how I planned to die…_

More tears sprang from my eyes. _Have you no will for life anymore…? You aren't dead yet…_

I sighed with a sob. "You aren't dead yet…" I could barely hear my voice above the crying skies and the screams of people on the other side of the wall.

I groan, I ache, I feel stiff, and I know… if there's _any _possibility of survival, I'll be crippled for life. _I'll never heal… _I fear that I won't have knowledge of _anything… _

_It's weird… I feel like I'm forgetting something _really _important…_

"Something important…" _Like your own name?_

_My name…_

I'm jostled again as the meteorites don't cease.

_My name… _think…

I grunt with frustration, and hug my knees. I sigh, and lean my head against the wall in defeat.

_It'd be nice to remember my name… before I pass… Death will be a sweet escape…_

I think I hear the hoof beats of Lord Death's steed, but I see an immense darkness, and I'm swallowed by it…

I find myself in the presence of a dark shadow… a soft hum in my ears, which acts as a lullaby. I sigh deeply, and slowly open my eyes… There's a grey haze, and I wonder if that's just the work of my eyes. Then the question pops into my head… _Who_ _am I_…?

Or a spirit…? Passed conscience…? Am I_… dead?_

_No… So come back into the light…_

A door appears, emitting a bright light, shattering shadow.

I recoil and cover my eyes. _But light is so… _bright_… darkness is more calming. _

_Fine… have it your way…_

The door begins to fade, shading into darkness, and when it's almost gone… I call out, my voice quavering, the tone of second-thought.

The light is now but a small pulse, seeming to linger. I step into the light…

**Third Person**

A tall figure in a dark robe lingered in the shade. He trekked across the dead forest floor, having come back from looking for survivors. He was too late. Breath coming in white fogs, he entered the light of fire, which climbed the outer wall of the second district. There, he quickly opened the low-lying gate, and ran across the paved path way. There, his shadow fell upon a young woman, some nineteen years old. She looked up at him, eyes almost at a close. Auburn bangs falling over her eyes she slipped further to the floor. She was a thin build, not too tall, but not extremely short.

The man in the black cloak bend over, and picked the woman off the ground with ease. He glanced at her injures. She, who was badly wounded, would need aid, and _fast. _The man looked at the door, shattered into five pieces. Noticing the debris caused by meteorites, he got the gist of what happened, but for further information, she would have to be questioned when she awoke.

He broke down the rest of the door, and headed into the second district.

**Andrea's pov**

Life returns to me, and it's not long before I hear the worldly noises of agony. My senses slowly return, heightened as if I had taken a long nap… It's a long while still, before I realize I am being carried… I feel a warm pulse flooding every tissue, every vein in my body, but my crippled leg pinches in pain.

I almost cry out, but I feel healing, that I'm regaining strength with every minute. I hear steady breathing, whoever is taking care of me, is doing so with ease… I stir in his grasp, giving him notice that I am very much alive.

He shifts me slightly and I gasp in pain. I have half a mind to smack him, but then I fear he'll drop me, and where would be then?

_On the ground perhaps?_

I scoff softly, _perhaps… _

I peak out the corner of my eye, and I soon wish I hadn't. I don't recognize where we are, and everything is so bright. I cringe. It seems as though we're walking on the face of the sun… _But that's a little over exaggerated…_

What I can hear is like the echoes bouncing off of a cave's walls. They're unclear, and I just about think I'm going deft too, but then there's a breakthrough… I want to recoil at the intensity of it, the lick of fire seeming too loud, too threatening. The screams are penetrating, capable of driving one into insanity. I cover my ears out of sheer wish to escape…

The voices are more pitchier than I remember; let alone how loud it is now, and the meteorites ever streaking the skies. His pace has quickened, along with the fluttering beat of his heart…

It's not until too late when I can feel his footing slip. I scream as we crash onto concrete. I'm thrown out of his reach, and my leg is hurting like flesh being scorched, and I fear that it'll for sure have to be amputated… I scream at the mere thought of it.

I can feel the street quivering under my breast, shaking from the rampage of terrified people… then it hits me. _Why are they so scared…?_

_Well… the possibility of their world being destroyed, their lives along with it, and probably what they're most concerned about right now, is that they'll be eaten alive by whatever is chasing them… Do you have it memorized? _

_Sure… _

_Am I _really _having a conversation with myself?_

_Yup… for like… the past hour or so…_

_Shut up._

_I can do that._

I grumble, "I'm going insane…" _Although… I already am… hmph._

I want to call out for him, but I can't get my mouth to operate correctly. I run my hands through my hair, and my heartbeat makes me shake. _I have to get out of here… but… I can't walk… _

I try to rise, but my broken, torn leg won't let me. I cry out with frustration, melting onto the road. I turn my head to the skies, and wish I could see them, watch the break of dawn one last time…

A tear slips down my cheek, listening to the constant screams, and I'm scared. _Has all abandoned me…? _I wipe the tears from my eyes, incapable to do anything else. Again, I see an immense darkness… _and I can recall nothing more…_

* * *

_I am nothing but a spirit, locked in a conscious realm, looking through someone else's eyes. I have to blink several times, for this one is blind, and I am not used to it. I peer through them as though they are open windows…_

_I can see a world of pain, fire and death. It reeks of darkness, it grips this world so tightly, it'll soon be no more… There isn't much left, the houses are now burned to ash, tongues of fire still lingering. There are still people, some defending, some fleeing… there are even more who are dead, their carcasses left to burn in darkness's wake… The dark creatures perpetually pool from their portals of darkness, preying on all that's left._

_I can feel the pain in this one, I feel her tears as if they were my own. I want to look into her past, but it is foggy, and unclear… how much pain could one human being possibly hold?_

_As if driven by some overpowering force, this one gets to her feet… and runs to their aid…_

"_Hobbles" is more like it… _

_I watch within her as she finally reaches them… but my vision fades, and I fall into darkness… The last thing I could see, was a pair of emerald green eyes. __I close my own, and grip the memory of those green eyes tightly. I give into the darkness, and I... slowly... pass... Pass into sleep..._

* * *

**A/N**: Gosh… this took _**forever!**_ This will probably be one of the longest chapters I put up, but anyways, _**please **_review, I beg of you! Well, any ways, g2g.

**Roxy**: And with that, this chapter comes to a close. Wait… hey, I thought you said Axel was introduced in this chapter.

**Reese**: Sorta kinda, well, according to the title, I _did_ have green eyes in it…

**Roxy**: I guess so… And without further ado, we bid thee good-bye!


	5. Kaori

**A/N: **Okay, there's going to be a lot of switching between the points of views, and I am sorry if I don't get their anatomy correct, so please, just bare with me. Read, review, enjoy! I do not own kingdom hearts or any of its characters. Oh, and another character is introduced (secondary), another one of my friend's "characters". You pronounce her name (See-dur), like cedar. She is copy write by that friend (who goes by Xedar). Now, without further ado, READ!

Echo- A Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction

Chapter 5- Kaori

The feeling of death… almost a hum… I've been surrounded by darkness for what seemed like years, though I don't, didn't, however you want to put it, care much about it.

I have the sense of soft, steady breathing, but my eyes are forever closed, but I don't know if that's just behind my eyelids… I yawn and curl into a ball, soft ground beneath. _Will death always feel tired? _That is, until I'm invited back into the light, life. Again, whatever you want to say…

For the first time, I actually try to open my eyes, rolling onto my back. It's a bit lighter, though still murky. I blink several times before sighing. Some say death is just a deep sleep… could I be…? Time to accept the truth I guess. I spread my arms out at my sides, everything eerily quiet, except for the soft buzz in my ears. _Death's gonna get boring… May as well sleep… _and I bring my eyes to a close.

_Hundreds of years later… _-so it seems

I stride along a dark path, seeming to proceed downhill. Swinging my arms at my sides, I look into the endless, bitter darkness. I put a stop to my stride, the sound of gravel slipping beneath my feet. Running my fingers through my hair, I lower myself to the ground.

An aimlessly wandering Spirit… How does one come to be? Some people believe that there's bridge leading from the world of the living, to the "afterlife" I guess… is that how they become? The ones who, for some reason, stay behind? But there was no bridge, door, any hint of "afterlife" for me… Just darkness. Maybe… I'm plagued by it…? To tell the truth, I don't mind the dark… I don't know why… we began in darkness, and so, we shall also end…

**Anonymous pov**

She stirred in sleep, her hand slipping from my grasp. I didn't reach for it again. I haven't left her side since the time she lay. Her breaths seemed strained, even in sleep, but still, her chest inflates and deflates with air. I sigh deeply. _When will she wake?_

I stare into her covered eyes; blindfolded with a thick, white cloth. The doctors say she may be forever blind, but that's not the only thing… I brought her to them with a dislocated jaw, majorly cracked skull, and a practically blown-off leg. I look down on her face and remember that she was badly burnt amidst the chaotic of Second District.

_That _was caused by a meteorite, but her other wounds… we cannot begin to guess. They say the leg may have to be replaced, or she might never walk again. She sighed deeply, turning in her sleep. _What's her name? Who is she? _We don't have any identification, except for the fact that she may be from the First District, and may be the only survivor… _but then that would mean… _I look up from my hands, _she looks like no criminal… _

I fumbled with the star-shaped necklace that was found with her, in my hands. It had a silver lining, the arms of the star were black, _pitch _black, and there was this weird design at the center of the art metal… like some kind of crest or symbol… but I could swear I had seen it before…

I look up as a nurse is passing by. '_Seriously though, when will she wake?' _I think to myself, and as though the nurse heard me, she spoke without turning to face me.

"The anesthetics are pretty strong, they'll keep her out for another hour or two," I nod and the nurse leaves. _This girl should be dead, but she's not… at least, not _yet_… _I look back down to the necklace.

_A few hours later…_

The cold, life stricken ground crunches under my feet as I walk solemnly. I pause, peering into the shade of trees. The sky has turned black though it's supposed to be the mid of day.

The bushes rustle in the shade, _probably a stray, or maybe we just failed to completely rid this place of Shadows… _I breathed deeply, the wind picking up speed, but never sending a chill down my spine.

I begin walking again, following a frozen dirt path. I blink from the light as I near the lit tent. Chimes sing wearily as I pause before the canvas door. _I wonder how she is… _and just as I'm about to lift the door, a dry twig snaps, and I turn quickly. Some one stands in the shadows, wearing black robes. She turns and heads down the street, wind howling behind her. She rounds the corner and disappears from my sight. I sigh and slowly start off after her.

I find her leaning against a brick wall, the light of the lamp casting shadows.

"What are you doing Axel?" her voice frosty, colder than the night. She lifts her hood, black hair unraveling. Her eyes glint in the dim light, an icy blue. I fold my arms across my chest, silent. The wind tares at her hair, tossing it at her face. "Why did you leave? Just tell me that."

"Xedar, you are very well aware," I sigh.

"They're going to come after you… and as of this point, they're already plotting a way to eliminate you…"

_After a few minutes of discussion-_

I watch her back as she turns and leaves. She tells me to keep a sharp eye… you never know who's gonna come… I scoff, a white cloud puffing from my lips, and I head back to the medical tent. 

**Xedar's pov**

I open a portal and disappear, never once looking back. Demyx was waiting for me on the other side.

"How did it go…?"

I'm silent for a while before answering, "He won't listen…" I look up at my boyfriend, and clasp his hands in mine.

**Axel's pov**

I slip inside the dim tent and nearly run over the little girl with bright, but droopy, blue eyes.

She stared up at me, her eyes blinking rapidly. She tilts her head to one side, cream-colored curls brushing against her jaw line. She started shifting her weight from foot to foot, uncomfortable in the silence. Her arms were folded across her chest, her gaze straying to her feet. I wait for a moment longer before I pass around her, but she speaks up, her voice quavering. She sounds _really _tired…

"How is she? They wouldn't let me near her…"

"Why would you assume I'd know?"

She pauses, silent for awhile, until she spoke, "I thought that maybe they'd let _you_ near her…"

"And why would you think that?"

"… Because… _you _were the one who saved her…"

I raise an eyebrow, "What's the difference?"

She shuffles her feet, hands behind her back.

I sigh and look over my shoulder, "In all honesty, I'm not sure she'll make it…" The girl makes a small noise, a cross between a whimper, sigh or gasp, mixed with tears. I pause, and turn to face her, finding her slumped on the ground. I kneel down and she turns away. "Because… in reality… no normal human being could survive what's happened to her… you understand kid?"

"Mmmah n'me is in grid…" she mumbles.

"… What…?"

"I said… my name is Ingrid!" Her tired voice rises; I try to quiet her down because it's drawing attention.

"Shhh… people are trying to sleep," My voice is a hoarse whisper.

**Ingrid's pov**

I stare up at him, realizing how quiet it _really_ was… The nurses and doctors are barely talking above a whisper, their patients sleeping on mats, some on cots, but mostly on mats. I hug my knees and force myself not to rock. I rest my chin on my knees, looking up from time to time.

My eyes begin to droop as I try to analyze… my eyes flicker, and I shake my head to attempt to keep myself awake. _This has really been a rough day, and I feel like I'm going to die if I don't rest… I need to remember to thank her… she… _I start to tip, but I'm picked up and carried to a mat. _I'm too tired to say "thank-you". _I fall asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

**Axel's pov**

I catch Ingrid just as she's falling onto her side, and I carry her to a vacant mat. There's a pillow there, and I return with a blanket, and with a squeaky lantern in the other hand, but I find that Ingrid's already asleep. She automatically pulls the blanket closer around her, and by the light of the lantern, I notice the scars the burns left. _I have no idea how she was able to save this little girl… _

I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open, so I quickly find a spare mat, and immediately fell asleep. _I terribly hope it wasn't a mistake… this world could collapse at any moment…_

The first thing that I am aware of is that it is _really _cold. I'm shivering uncontrollably, and it's freaking me out, because I normally don't get cold easily… I open my eyes. No one is awake except for me, and I can't tell what time it is… I can never tell what time it is anymore… _Well, in this world anyways… _I sigh deeply, and push off the rough blanket. I cringe at the cold that clings to my skin. I rub the back of my head and stand up. I tip-toe between the sleeping people, hoping that I won't accidentally step on someone… I reach the door, but pause, my fingers just an inch from the fabric. _What if it's too late…?_

**Ingrid's pov**

I stir, growing uncomfortable sleeping on the hard ground. I accidentally let a yawn escape, and I cringe when others around me stir. I slowly sit up, slipping off the blanket. I wrap it around my shoulders and dance between the sleeping patients. I reach the door, and finally realize how _cold _it was. I peak through a crack, and I'm shocked at what I see. The haze of ash has been replaced with a bright sheet of snow, and even more drifts down by the second. My mouth drops.

There are guards patrolling the streets, _probably watching for more of those creatures_. I can only see a few houses from where I stand, each crammed with as many people as they could hold.

The sick or injured were stuck in tents like these. There are a few stationed throughout the town, but there are not enough doctors or nurses to care for everyone. I examine my arms, streaked with thin white scars. Suddenly, and can feel the heat of my memories, I can hear the screams, I can feel the darkness, I see the red of flame. Worst of all, I can see my parents burning to death… Tears trail down my cheeks like rivers, and I succumb to grief.

**Axel's pov**

The wind blows in my face, showering me with snow, which really gets annoying… I shiver in my scavenged coat, huddled against a tree. _My time is almost up here, so soon I'll be able to go back to the tent and check on the two of them. _I stomp my feet, shaking the snow from my shoes.

I scan the street, seeing nothing but snow, a few lucky trees and houses, other guards, and the occasional passerby. My breath comes out as fog as I look at my watch, tapping my foot impatiently. _There's nothing much more that I can do, than to wait for someone to come and take up my post… _

_Thank god someone was coming…._

I run up to the canvas tent, ice and snow melting at my ankles. I burst into the room, people still laying, sprawled upon the ground. I spy Ingrid sitting in the far corner, and see the other is unmoved from the cot. I make my way to her, and pull up a stool. I try to make as least amount of sound as I possibly could, making sure not to drag the stool. I sit myself down at her side, melted snow streaming my cheeks. I notice she's still wrapped in my black organization robes, which means…

I pull the hood from her shrouding her face. Noticing that they've removed the blindfold, I reach to brush her badly burnt hair out of her eyes, but she caught my wrist swift and as accurate as a snake. The scary part was, she never opened her eyes. I screamed out of shock, heart thumping rapidly in my chest. I covered my mouth with the other hand. Still holding onto my wrist with a crushing grasp, she spoke, her voice tired and weary, but with all the force and firmness in the world.

"Who the Hell… is touching my face…?" She slowly loosened her grip and let go. Her arm fell to her side. I watched her for a moment more as she slowly opened her eyes for the first time. They were… _purple_… no… not quite… a blue tinted purple. The color was deep and vast, and I could only stare. The only thing was… the color was a bit dimmed… they had filmed over… 

**Andrea's pov**

As I stare up at the endless, black ceiling, it begins to become lighter and lighter, until what I see is almost white. My eyes widen as I raise myself from the ground. Faint silhouettes begin to form, and I confirm I'm under some kind of billowy structure. The silhouettes pool into blotches of color, and I can't make sense of it anymore. Slowly, my senses return to me, and there is a low, throbbing pain. I resist crying out. There's something beneath my back that's like a low-rise bed… and I'm realizing that I never really raised myself from the ground.

I begin to feel uncomfortable, body heat seeming to surpass extreme. I swear I begin to sweat, and that's when I notice my skin is clean again… Ever scent seems to pierce my skin, strong fragrances of salves and herb mixes, and is smells as though someone's wearing too much perfume… My body aches, and the throb ever increases, and it feels as though pain killers are wearing off…

A shadow moves over my face as something is lifted, and a bright lamp light causes redness behind my eyelids. Someone, or something, is moving at the side of me, appear to reach over. I wait for the shadow to move closer, and even though I feel as though I've been asleep for eternity, I'm extremely accurate as I catch someone's wrist. I smile with satisfaction when they scream. I barely recognize my voice.

"Who the Hell… is touching my face…?" I let my grip loosen and I let go, my arm falling to my side. Agonizingly slowly, I let my eyelids flicker open, and I want to recoil at the intensity of light. There _is_ a bright lamp near by… The pools of color has receded, and I can make out a figure sitting at my side.

There's a long stretch of silence as I hear him fumble with the words inside his head. He finally manages to ask me of my name. I become scared, and without wanting to look or feel stupid, I remember the smell of someone sporting too much perfume, I shout out, and then more silently.

"Kaori! Kaori…"

_Because "Kaori", means perfume, or fragrance…_


	6. Healing

Echo- A Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction

Chapter 6- Healing

The wind begins to howl against the canvas walls and he talks, while I listen. My mind has already began to fog over, the pain threatening to pull me under, but I resist the urge… I have questions that need to be answered. The room is dimly lit, and everyone moves with slow movements. No one talks, and if they do, it's barely above a whisper. I lay in silence, even though my body is burning with pain. I stare up at the man sitting next to me. He keeps a steady string of words flowing, but I'm not taking much in… _Because I can't… _

Only random words it seems, "… fire… hell… destroy… darkness… you and saved… child… burns… and crippled…" it all seems like nonsense. I stir, the cot squeaking on its legs. I don't like it here… It's uncomfortable, and I hate the weakness of it… The smell of death… it's revolting. I close my eyes, and take deep breaths. I look back up into the familiar green eyes, and wonder whom he is. _Why does he care…?_ _Why does anyone care…? _Finally, he senses I am no longer in any position to pay attention, and he bids be good-bye and gets up to leave.

I silently watch him go as he lets a blast of cold air and blinding light flood the room. I recoil, wrapping the covers tightly around me. The room falls dark again, everything bitterly silent. Soft footsteps trod the ground, the atmosphere returning to its herb-like aura.

Again, I'm taken by overwhelming pain, and at once, a low, moaning groan flees my lips. A nurse hustles over to me, sticking me with a syringe. _Ouch… _But then the pain recedes, and I'm flooded by the darkness of sleep.

I wake up several times through what seems like years… once I woke to arguing voices, another to a billion eyes peering down at me… once… it was utterly silent… and the other, brimming with hastened action… and… and… an… other… 'nother…. _I can't take much more… _

**Axel's pov**

I kick the snow from my feet, sitting hunched over on a bench, staring down at my hands…

It feels as though it's been days… I take a deep breath as another bone chilling rush of air brings shivers down my spine. _I don't know why… but I feel as though I need to protect her… Kaori… _I shiver; _just the sound of her name sends chills down my spine. But "fragrance" isn't eerie… unless… it's old 80's perfume…_ I heave myself from the bench and head down the sidewalk, snow dunes piled up on either side of me… _God damn it! I've had _enough _of this! _I take off at a quicker pace than the previous.

**A Nurse's pov**

I lift the flap of the tent, slipping inside the dark room. The room has been nearly evacuated except for a few lone peoples. I make my way to a cot on the other side of the room, and peer over her side, the "hero" of the district… how she did it… we will always wonder. Someone trods behind me, and I turn with haste. It's the little girl… Ingrid… I turn my back. _Her rescue was near impossible… all the defenders had given up on her… except for our little hero here… _The stench of her scorched flesh is masked by what we could give… but only just…

"Will she be alright?" Ingrid's soft voice reaches my ears with ease.

I sigh with irritation, "How many times must you ask that question child?"

"I… I just want to know…"

I sigh deeply, my back still turned to the girl on the cot. _Kaori… I think her name was… _"Kaori may not make it… that is all I can tell you…" I turn back around, only to find her eyes beginning to water. "Her situation is dire… I believe you've been told that?" She gives her head a slight shake. "No matter how many times you may ask… it won't change reality…" I brush around her, headed to the entrance, but her voice stops me.

"Won't you give him a chance?"

I stop, turning slightly, "Excuse me?"

"Axel may be able to cure her… if you would give him a chance…"

"Child… his only use is destruction… he's a walking bomb for Christ's Sake!"

She sits silently, unmoving, sitting at the foot of Kaori's death-bed. "There's nothing we can do…?"

"Nothing."

**Ingrid's pov**

I sit on the dirt floor, some ten to fifteen minutes after the lady left. _Will they just leave her…? We still have time… if only they'd give him a chance… But I know that they won't. _I sniffle loudly, and wipe the tears from my eyes, _be strong… you need to be strong… _I look around the dead-silent room, and I'm sick of all the negativity… maybe they won't save her because… _no, I mustn't think of the end… _

I close my eyes as imagine the scene of last week… the world was going to end in fire, but its wrath has been stalled… for some reason… _we need to get out of here… _Kaori mumbles and rolls, and I rise to my knees to peer over the edge of the cot. Her wounds were clean as best as they could, they had to scrub her down to get off the dirt and muck…

She's pale and dead-looking… and her leg maybe be already in the process of amputation. _Axel, hurry! _

**Axel's pov**

I pace along the floor outside the tent, shivering against the wind. The destruction appears to be at a stand-still, and no one knows what the fuck is going on. I sigh deeply and start of down the street. The doctors still don't know what to do about Kaori, they won't let me near her when they're trying to fix her… say I'll only make it worse… well, fuck you!

I look down at my hands. _I'm not only good for destruction… anything practically in the field of fire I'm good with. Heck, _I _was the one who fucking got rid of all her burns! _They're _the ones who'll cause her the loss of a leg!_

_God DAMMIT! Stop ranting! _I pull at my scalp, huddled under what little protection the bare branches could offer. _I need to make a resolve… Think! Think you goddamn idiot! _

In a manner of minutes I had come up with a plan that seemed flawless at first, but then had to scratch it because it might involve jumping in and out of windows, and escaping from a lab… and supposed to be unscathed… _NOT going to work… _

And again after a manner of minutes I was like, "what the hell", and "face palm" at the obvious. But then… there's the fact of nurses and doctors, and any other person in the medical department.

**Ingrid's pov**

I stand for a few more minutes, scratching my scarred arms, before turning to leave. Axel comes into the softly lit room and stands next to me.

"How's she doing…?" He asks, leaning down to me.

I shrug, "Doesn't seem to be getting worse, or better…"

He nods curtly and walks around the edge of the cot, stretcher, whatever the heck you want to call it. He removes the linens covering her "dead" leg, and brushes the black clothing out of the way… it's an overly large black trench-thing…

"What are you doing?" I ask, holding my breath. He doesn't answer because he's wrapped up in his work. He places one hand on the exposed flesh, and mutters under his breath. At first, it's only a soft pulse, emitting from his palm. But then the light begins to spread, much like sunlight, first outlining his hand and then traveling outward, dancing off his fingertips. It flows across her skin like water, brightness increasing all the while. It's almost too hard to look at by now, and just as I look away the process is ruptured, and the sunlight shatters into a billion pieces, much like a broken mirror. Time has literally been reversed...

**Kaori's pov**

I'm dancing upon the brink of consciousness. I'm leaning more towards the other side as warmth floods me. I let myself fall, wrapped in warmth and comfort. I don't wake for what seems to be eternity, and for eternity, I am finally at piece.


	7. The Third District

Echo- A Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction

Chapter 7- The Third District

**Ingrid**

I walk down a narrow passage, and emerge in a vacant street. I slowly walk across the concrete, footsteps echoing through stillness. _It's been a week. A _week_! The sky is always dark, clouded by ash and smoke. Most of us believe we may never see the sunlight again… _I stop, coughing as ash enters my lungs as I attempt to breathe. I continue on down the road, houses burned down on either side. There's a perpetual, eerie fog that sends chills through my bones. I cover my mouth in my sleeve and take off down the road, _I just want to get out of here… It's been a week since the attack… and the darkness is playing tricks on us… toying… _

I get to a part of town were the shops are burned to the ground… I weave my way through rubbish and debris until I reach the standing section of the district.

I see the blue tents from afar, and activity seems low until I get closer. There's a group of men at the door in heated conversation. Three of them are wearing white robes, the "doctors'" signature outfit, and the other… I can't see him from where I stand... I'd have to move around and hide behind something, but my guess is that it's Axel… and, I'm right.

I remember yesterday in the medical tent when Axel healed her… he basically told me (absentmindedly) that the "effers are going to b***h at me for this…" don't know why he would tell me _that_… but it sure looks like they've gotten to it.

I take a long way round, but end up about a foot or three away from them. I place a hand on the crumbling bark, moss wet on my skin, as I lean against the tree.

"…- You could have made it worse!" It was one of the doctors… the one with long, blonde hair…

"Well excuse me for saving something that would have had to been amputated!"

"All we are saying is that your poor magic could have backfired, and caused more damage… to the point in which it would be _beyond _help…" The monotone voice came from a bluenette, his back towards me. Axel scoffs. … _Actually, I couldn't see any of the faces, and the voices are unrecognizable… but I do have a clear view of Axel, red faced as ever, well… until they shifted on their feet. _

"Backfired… _meaning?_"

"Stunting the bone growth of course." It was a brunette this time. He held a clipboard at his side.

"Pffft…" Axel murmurs.

"Or, you could have basically reversed time, too far, and practically given her a child's leg…" Says Blondie.

"Permanently damaging it," the brunette added.

Acting girlishly, hip-shot, examining nails kind of thing, Axel asks to the floor, "And let me guess, you went and took specimens of skin and bone, and practically took a thousand x-rays…?" He looks up from his hand.

"Naturally…" the bluenette responds smugly.

Axel's face darkens as he peers at them through squinty eyes, and I almost jump out of my skin as he speaks… well… yells, actually.

"Well… SORRY FOR DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!" and he storms off.

It's eerily quiet as the doctors disperse, and I finally leave the tree behind. I stand at the door, pause, and march in. I weave round vacant and occupied mats alike until I reach Kaori's. As each day goes by, I place a petal in a vase, which lays under the stretcher. I don't know why _petals_, but maybe I was thinking of her name as I had picked the flowers. And there were only pink flowers… I sigh deeply, _I'm thinking about this too much_, and I drop another petal into the clear vase. I get up to leave, but Kaori stirs… _finally… _

**Axel**

I pace, stormy faced, reddened ears, across the lot. I kick dirt and ash from my shoes, but no snow (thank god!) because I didn't _have _to… _They could at least have said, "Thank You"… but nooooo… ugh. _I stand still, wind piercing through my jacket… _I want my cloak back… _I whine to myself. This is REDICULOUS! _Kaori… _please _wake up…_

I hear my name being called, and I look up to see Ingrid running as fast as she could, bleach blonde locks billowing behind her.

"Axel! Axel!" she's breathless as she reaches me. "Kaori… Kaori…" she huffs. "Kaori's awake!" It takes a second to realize what she's saying.

**Kaori**

I've been passing between consciousness and unconscious… for the past… eternity… I think the doctors are forgetting to give me more shots or something. The pain isn't really present, but I'm not knocked out because of drugs… it's just because I'm extremely tired… And it doesn't help that I don't _want _to go to sleep… I keep having repetitive dreams… and I never know where I am… There's usually bright, but blurred lights… a reddish and orange-ish color… and there's heat, but it's _not_ comfortable, like a fireplace…

I'm pretty sure that in these dreams, I'm surrounded by fire… maybe inside a burning building, but I'm really not sure… there's also voices, screaming voices, but they're distant… so… am I the only on in the burning building…? My eyes droop, and I prepare for the next wave of dreams…

* * *

I wake up with a start, screaming, and no one's there… and it feels like something is missing. Something… _important… _I lay back down, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I force myself to take deep breaths… and I'm lulled back into sleep.

* * *

There are many times I awaken, and almost every time, Axel is there… and I'm content, even if I black out before I could say something as simple as, "Hi." There are times that I awaken when voices are raised to an unbearable volume, and other times, it's eerily silent… and as I had said, I mostly woke up every time with Axel at my side… but the next time I wake… he's not there… and I begin to panic before I even know why…

I swing my legs over the side of whatever I was laying on, and kick something over, making me jump. The clear vase shatters, and pink petals flutter to the floor. I sit there, staring at the shards of glass and the blanket of petals, wondering who put them there. I give my head a shake, attempting to clear it. There were roughly seven to fourteen petals laying on the floor. I finally look up to inspect the room I was in. My vision has cleared incredibly so since the last time I had opened them, but it still flickers all the same.

It's a dimly lit place, this tent is. There are a few round tables with low candles' light dancing in the corners of the room. There's an assortment of mats and cot-things, and most of them are vacant. The people that _are _there are motionless, and some are bandaged from head-to-toe, and it takes a moment to realize that my pain has finally fled.

I peer down at my legs, unscorched, and skin so soft it doesn't seem real. I flex my arms, white, fine-lined scars glowing in what little light there was. I swing my legs, forward-backward, forward-backward, under the cot, the soles of my feet brushing the cold dirt floor. I rub my eyes like a small child and yawn, while trying to ignore lightheadedness.

I'm still sweating, and I don't think that's possible, because I had that dream maybe an hour or so ago. It is then that I notice the heavy, black fabric cloaking my body. It seems as though it traps body heat, and keeps the cold out. The thing weighs me down so incredibly so, that I fear I will not be able to stand. I have the short thought that if I'm submerged in water, I may not be able to rise. As I'm sitting there, I also realize that the cloak is _much _too big for me, and I'm about to zip it off, but I realize I'm wearing nothing beneath. _Shit! _And, I am _not _an immodest person.

I slowly slide of the edge, and sway on my feet. When I finally gain balance, I hitch the hem of the cloak up, brush off the hood, hold the neck-line higher up my chest, and head towards the exit. One of the doctors stops me on my way out, and asks me if I'm "okayed to go", not looking up from his clipboard.

"Yes," I reply impatiently. _Well, _I _okay myself to go… _

"Name…" The man sighs.

"Kaori," I state simply, and stride past the flap of a door briskly as he checks my name off. But before I've completely gone, I turn and ask, "Where's Axel?"

"How should I know… he stormed off about an hour or two ago…"

_What happened…? _

I run down the street, observing the blackened sky, the vacant homes, the eeriness of the nothingness of this world. The air is clouded with the ash and soot, and smoke, which almost rises from the concrete like heat-waves. I almost trip five times on the hem of the cloak, and I'm just about to ditch it. There's a bone-chilling coolness of the area, and I'm no longer sweating, but shivering. There's evidence that snow had fallen, and as of this point, there's a rapid climate change. My back is rigid and stiff, as I stride down the street… I look frantically from side-to-side, trying to find him, and keeping a look out for myself… _almost instinct… and random too… I just have this uncontrollable urge to protect myself, to be "on guard"… I'm _way _over doing this… but if you're not out for yourself, or whatever, you can get hurt, or surprised, or maybe even KILLED! Dear god… _where _is this coming from? It's like my brain is attacking itself! Why do I panic so…?_

I stop to take a breather, bent over, taking strained breaths. _Where could he be…? _Distant bustle catches my ears, so I stand, and strain to hear. Not far off, is a cluster of buildings, a small, extra area in which fire had not reached. There are a few shops and maybe one or two restaurants. I start off in that direction, walking slowly to the rough, brick buildings.

**Axel**

I'm breathless as I run up to the tent, Ingrid at my heels. I trip just as I reach the entrance, and nearly rip the flap. Just as I hit the floor with a loud _thud, _Ingrid trips over my feet and crashes to the floor. I look up to see a doctor staring incredulously down at us. I smile and wave up at him. He raises an eyebrow.

I get up and brush myself off. I look to Kaori's cot, only to find that it is no longer occupied. My face falls, and I turn to the doctor. Ingrid stands next to me, also looking up at the man.

"Where's Kaori…?"

The doctor looks up from his clipboard, only to turn back to it.

"I believe that she left to find _you_…"

"She LEFT?"

He sighs, "That _is _what I said, isn't I…?"

"- Do you have any idea where she is…?" Ingrid blurted.

He shakes his head

**Kaori**

I could hear my heart thumping in my chest. I was frantic. _Why was I so frantic? I've barely even known him… why am I so worried now that I can't find him? _I breathed deeply. I wanted to stop searching, but something inside me kept me going.

I pushed through crowds of refugees in District Three, their faces showing open shock and confusion. I began to sweat under the black cloak, even _if _it's getting cold again. I want to take a break, and it's not until my legs are screaming, that I finally give in, and when I do, I find myself in an alley set back from the bustle of the square.

I lean against an older, more historical building, instantly feeling the pain of a brass handle in my back.

I bush myself off, and inspect the door, rusted with age. I literally have to claw the door open, because it's fused to the wall on either side. After a few minutes, rays break through an opening, but it's not large enough to peer inside.

It feels as though someone is stabbing the tips of my fingers with a needle, and once I pull away, I find that my hands are bruised, and cut, and so very bloody. _Ouch… _I'm just barely out of the hospital wing, and I'm already hurting myself… I try to clear the blood as much as I could, and had one last tug at the door, and it finally came loose.

I hold the door open with my shoulder, staring down at my bleeding and stinging hands. I manage to hold my arms from my sides, not wanting to stain the clothing with blood… _not that it would show up… _I sigh deeply, and slide into the room that I had discovered.

It's lit on its own, this place is… rays of light pouring through the crumbling ceiling. I crane my neck to stare up at it, but branches block most of my view. The branches are twisted and gnarled, its bark is scraggly, leaves askew, and these branches belong to an even more gnarled and twisted torso. You could even see the inside of the tree, its bark chipping away… this is a very old, but wise, tree. _Who'd ever think that that something like this would be found _here_… _

I look around the round room, light casting shadows on the crumbling brick walls. Everything is red, and grey, and dead in this district, but not _here_, not this beautiful place… and I can not begin to explain why I think this place is beautiful. Beautiful, safe, and secure, even though it feels like the ceiling may fail, and eventually cave in…

I then notice there're markings upon the wall. A child's mark, constructed of white chalk… and even then, it still appears as though someone has taken watch over this ancient room.

I cross over soft, green grass… _lush _green grass, on my way to the stone rocks encircling the ancient tree, probably set to keep water from running away.

I sit myself down on my perch, legs crossed, arms folded. I curl my hair around my ear, and take deep, long, breaths, breathing in the scenery… and I begin to forget why I'm here. I close my eyes, and lean back on the tree.

Movement wakes me from my slumber, but I don't want to open my eyes… I don't want to open my eyes because… for once, I'm not worried about being on guard all the time… this place is peaceful… But, in the end, I finally open my eyes.

There's a young woman with bright, blue hair, which reflects the sunlight whenever she turns. She's tending to the tree, placing bricks and stones where there _already _are bricks and stones… and it seems as though she's not having any trouble… I turn my gaze away, out of confusion.

All of a sudden, there are two little children sitting at my feet, backs turned and paying with something, but I do not know what… Come to think of it, I can't see any of their faces, and I don't move to try to see. The children appear to be around four to five years old. On my left, there's a girl with brown hair, and on the right, is a younger boy, with black hair…

None of them speak… it's utterly silent… and they don't seem to notice me… or maybe they're just ignoring me… but why, I do not know… I almost open my mouth to speak, but I loose the nerve, pull my knees to my chest and head o the trunk. I then close my eyes…

When I open them again, leave are slowly drifting to the floor, the grass has fled, bricks and dust line the floor, evidence that the roof has finally fallen, and the child's mark has faded with age, and dispersed… and it's utterly silent, and utterly dark, and the children themselves are gone… and so is the woman with bright, blue hair… and I begin to wonder… _were they ever really there…?_

I slowly stand, hem falling to the floor, and weight returning to my shoulders. I stand there for a few minutes, already subject to collecting dust particles. I take long look around the room, see the long-since-dead tree, damaged roof and walls… the emptiness… and I can't take much more, so I turn to leave… and never to return. But I stand at the door, one hand placed upon its cool and chipping surface. I look over my shoulder, almost longingly, and a tear slips from my eye… and I don't know why…

I decide not to tell anyone of this, other wise, they'll believe that I'm insane… _I _think I'm insane, so what good does that do…? I sigh deeply, and tug on the handle.

I sigh as I look up at the sky, a light drizzle in the air. The droplets mix with my tears, and it's a gift from heaven because now you can't tell that I was crying. I look down at my reflection in the pools of water… and I barely recognize myself… I crouch down, my fingers disturbing the surfaces. The girl that stares back… seems not to be me… Red eyes, reddish, brownish locks, short, and slightly longer on one side… it looks as though it's been attacked by fire… I push up from the ground, knees cracking, staring into unfamiliar eyes.

The rain strengthens, and pours down harder with almost every second… no longer _just _a drizzle. I step away from the threshold, lightning lighting up the sky, and thunder clapping. I'm looking down at my feet, so I don't see the three men standing in shadow, nor do I see the soaked redhead just trying to get by. The sound of three pairs of feet sloshing through wet rubble catches my ear, and I turn…

**A/N: **Okay… It felt as though that was getting too long, so I just cut it off… **sigh**... Okay, I want a opinion from you readers… do I use too many ellipsis…? Thankies!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The rain continues to fall. I push the hood out of my face, feeling agitated. The rain casts a fog across the lot, making it near impossible to see.

My eyes follow their footsteps like a hawk. The three men seem set on something, but I don't know what because I can't see past them; they're too wide. I step away from the door, and try to walk as quietly as I possibly can until I have a clear view ahead of them.

Up ahead, is yet another figure, colors blurred amidst the rain. I look back at the men, they have eyes of ice, and backs of stone, so to speak. Confused, I just turn to leave, unaware of the danger… But I finally realize what's about to happen…

I'm close enough now, that I can make out a bit more of this other person. He's looking down at his hands, back turned to me, and a red, fuzzy blur… and I know at once who it is. The three men are almost upon him when I scream.

"AXEL! WATCH OUT!"

They turn to me for a second, and make haste to reach their target. I take off at a sprint, and reach him before they do.

My body collides with the shortest of the three, which, by the way, isn't short at the least, but inevitably, it sends him to the floor. Axel takes a dazed step back to avoid the bodies, and freezes against the wall. _You could help, you know… _and even though the window of time was small, the one I had collided with, had already scrambled to his feet, and struck me across the face. My face stings as I stagger, but I regain balance, and lunge at them again.

* * *

As rain washes away blood, the battle straggles on.

I trip, fumbling with my actions, and they swiftly catch me in a headlock, literally strangling me. Ferociously, I try to break away by all means. I kick and scratch and scream, and to stifle my struggling cries, one of them cups my mouth shut, and another kicks my stomach, winding me.

I bite the person's hand, and he jumps back, squealing like a pig. They hold me as I glare up at him, and he kicks me in the face. I feel blood begin to run.

I twist in my restraints, trying to see where Axel stands. _I could really use some help, you asshole! _

I elbow the one with my head locked in his arm in the stomach (I'll call him 1, the bitch who kicked my face 2, and the one that's all up on my legs, 3), and kick 3 once in the groin, in which frees my legs.

3's curled on the ground, having spasms frequently, as 1's holding tight onto my torso, and 2's hit me in the face again. I bare my teeth, and snap at him like a rabid dog. I twist, until I have a clear shot, and punch 1's nose bloody.

Once I'm free to go, I stagger backwards, and trip over 3, and bash myself into the wall behind me. Then 1 and 2 come at me again, driving me into a corner. I bare my teeth, signaling a warning they do not heed, and strike the nearest across the face: four blood streaks line his skin, and it's not his blood, but mine.

Rage-filled demons, they are, as they both attack, practically mauling me, and Axel just stands there. I kick, once, twice, thrice, trying to get them off of me, and suddenly, there's a blade trapped in my hand. I don't remember when I had pulled it out, or even where I got it from, but what I _do _know, is that I may, in fact, finally, have the upper hand.

* * *

The sky rocks with thunder as I lean against the wall, my body heaving with heavy breaths. I'm drenched with sweat, and the cloak sages with water… so… I really can't tell what is which… I have had enough… Axel stands to the left of me, his leg brushing against my arm. By now, I have realized that nothing will break him from his shocked trance… in which leaves me by myself, and I have to finish what I began. I struggle to my feet, not taking a care if my blade is, or is not, hidden. I just want this to be over…

Back hunched, arms dangling, legs failing, and yet, I'm diving headfirst into this mess… this tiresome fight. My eyes roll, tiredness fighting me,_ evil bastard_… Saliva runs thick and my bones ache… rain muddles my will, and drenches me further… I look up to them, rain running down my face, reddened eyes peering up from behind a black hood. The expressions that run across their faces… I can't figure out… fear… or confidence… determination… or smugness… I don't think I'll ever know…

1 comes, slowly at first, but then picks up speed. I tuck my blade away, and ready myself for the blow. He efficiently barrels me over, arms a steel bracelet. I grunt as I come in contact with the earth, his weight crushing my lungs. I struggle, and see that the other two head towards Axel. _Do these people ever give up…? _In panic, I wedge my knee into his abdomen, and slam my fist into his ear as he rolls off. I scramble to my feet, kicking up mud as I race to the others, and push them out of the way.

I shoot a glare at Axel. As the other two are struggling to get up, I see 1 come at me out the corner of my eye, and as he's reached me, I pull out my blade, and cut him across the cheekbone. He falls to the ground screaming. Just as he's fallen, I whirl around, and blood splashes against my face as I lodge the blade above an incoming 2's collarbone. I yank it out, and he staggers away, wailing. 3 pushes past 2, which sends him to the ground. I grip 3 by the collar, and I stab him in the stomach three times. They all scramble out of my arm's reach, and I hold my weapon aloft, daring them to come at me again. None of them take the bait, and it seems as though eternity passes with silence as we stare at each other, nothing but the pattering rain to keep us in the present.

I sigh deeply, and nod for them to scat, a reminder of their defeat, but they don't move, not an inch. I snort, and let my arm fall to my side. I think I'd scared the shit out of them enough so that they don't dare try to lay a hand on me again, so I turn on my heel, and glance from side to side, looking for Axel. He's propped up on the wall, holding his side. He's shaking, eyes, open wide, staring at the ground like it's evil… he seems possessed… My shoulders sag, and just as I start to walk towards him, the men are too freaking determined, that they actually follow… and it's all ready too late because they've all bashed their fists into my head.

The last thing I see… is Axel, slowly and hesitantly, almost afraid that the slightest movement would shatter his bones, pulls out his weapons, and kills them all in one swift strike… and they burst into a cloud of blood and dust… and I'm thinking, _what were they…? _Who _were they…? _

The ground is soft from the newly fallen rain, and Axel shuffles over to me… _I save your god damned ass, and what do I get to show for it? _My glare takes the last of my energy, and my eyes finally come to a close.

**Axel (From Before)**

I lean against the wall, staring up at the sky, shivering. There's a drizzle in the air, and all warmth in my bones has been snuffed out. I lost Ingrid a while back in the crowd, and I'm pretty sure she just decided to return to the medical tent, she's a smart girl.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I just ignore it, winded from my search. I just want to sleep. _So… from fire to cold, to _really _cold and snow… then to warmth, and back and forth twice more… and now to rain… humph… I may have just lost track, my bad… _I rub my forehead, and yawn.

I don't feel like searching for her anymore… I just don't… I _can't_… My phone vibrates again, and I pull it out, and flip it open, looking for the texts…

_You said you were going to get back _today_ Axel… where are you…?_

I sigh, and text my reply. _Sorry Xion, things aren't going as planned…_

It takes a moment for her to reply. _Do you know when?_

_No._

_Well… how _are _things going…?_

_Not too good… but I swear to god that this world, it's bi polar… one moment it's hot like hell, and then it's below zero…_

_Sounds bad…_

_You THINK? _I sigh with annoyance, and flip the phone shut.

I lean back against the wall, and get another text from her. _I love you._

I stare at the three words… and damn tears threaten to flow. _I just feel terrible… because I know I'm gonna have to break it off soon…_

_You know that right? … Axel?_

_Yea, I know. Love you too. Gotta go…_

I flip the phone shut again, and just stand there. I stuff the phone away, because it's been all ready damaged enough by the rain. I hear something walking behind me, and then a familiar voice screams for me to 'watch out'. The voice had enough force to shake the walls… _Kaori… _I turn eagerly, only to find three assassins racing towards me, and Kaori trying to beat them. _It's kind of scary to see your own pawns being used against you… even if they're disguised in a humanoid form, more so than they all ready were… _

Kaori collides with the nearest, and I back step to avoid them, and then freeze against the wall… _Tje… _It's a useless command word now… tee-gh…

The battle continues for what seems like forever… I would've helped her… but I couldn't… I _actually _couldn't…

* * *

I'm unaware of everything, dazed, frozen, until I feel Kaori's arm brush against my leg. Some how, she's gotten to the floor… leaning against the wall, exasperated. I can see it in her eyes, the worry, the fear, the pain… so much pain, and it hurts me because I can't help her… and that's odd for a Nobody… we feel no pain…

She's tired, and yet, she continues. Kaori struggles to pull herself from the floor… and everything goes too fast to keep track… one moment, she's in front of me, the next, she's across the lot, pinned down by one of the pawns. I look the other way and see two of them nearing me. _Shit… _And as I said before, everything moves too fast, Kaori has all ready knocked them to the side and shot a glare at me, and launched off at them again.

The world blurs around me, and I'm not paying attention to anything anymore… _curse the magic! _I slump to the floor, holding my side (just because, it's a habit) as Kaori finishes them off, but not quite… They stagger up to her when she is all but unaware, and knock her out… I slowly rise as they walk towards me, ragged and beaten, and will not stop until they have carried out their job… They won't die easily it seems. The magic still has its hold when I summon my chakrams hesitantly, and eliminate them…

Shock lingers even after what is done… Kaori lies on the ground, half dead. _It's been what…? A few hours…? And she's already hurting herself… _I stumble over to her and hoist her into the air and carry her back to the medical tent. _I'm gonna get a mouthful for this… _

**Ingrid**

I pace back and forth across the dirt floor. I had returned after loosing Axel on the search for Kaori, and he hasn't come back _yet_… I sit down, staring into space. The room is forever dark, almost completely empty now… a fight between the doctors rose up earlier this day… about letting Kaori go… it was too loud, I had to wait outside… they were mad at the check-out person for not checking with another doctor to see if it was alright to let her go… now, the place is utterly silent, except for breathing that is…

I'm hugging my knees, rocking on a mat when Axel walks into the room, carrying Kaori in his arms. I gasp and run to them.

"What happened?" I ask, horrified. She's sweaty, and bruised, and bloody… and the cloak is drenched with water.

"She was attacked… when she was trying to protect me that is…" He lays her down on her cot. "She needs to rest… find a warm, damp cloth…"

I do as I'm told, and rush back as quickly as possible.

**Kaori**

When I wake, I'm back in the medical tent. _Axel must've carried me back… _My wounds have been bandaged, and bruises have swelled. My head pounds with pain, and I can barely remember what had happened. I yawn, looking at me red hands. Someone needs to tell me what's going on here… what's happening to our home… _this isn't home… _and my question of what's going to happen to _us _is already answered… we'll surly die before we see the end of it…

* * *

**A/N: **ugh… I. Don't. Want. To. Write. Anymore! **Sigh** but anyways, for those of you who read my fan fiction, sorry that I couldn't update, got back from a DC trip and my birthday came and went, and my family reunion is coming up soon… so, I won't be able to upload again for like… 7 days or something. Just thought I should tell you guys. Ttyl.


	9. Reminisces

**A/N: "Hi!" –Roxy**

"**What is it, Roxy?" –annoyed Reese**

"**I'm hyper! I haven't slept in 24 hours!"- Hyper Roxy**

"…**Well then, we must hide you where you can't hurt yourself." –Reese**

"**Hmm… caffeine wearing off… can't open eyes…" –suddenly sleepy Roxy.**

"**I still haven't introduced you! Everyone, this is Roxy, aka Shimmi, Aka, Xoxoroxas. She's my buddy." –Reese**

"**Nightnight." –Roxy (who is passed out)**

"…**Okay, on with the chapter!" –Reese.**

"**Wait…" says Roxy, suddenly awake, "I thought I got a "shout-out" in one of the chapters… "Green Eyes"…? Maybe…"**

"… **Meh… well, anyways, I own nothing, about anything to do with Kingdom Hearts."**

**Chapter 9- Reminisces**

I peered through the slits in my eyes; everything was in a blur. I couldn't see straight, not even when I sat up, so I almost toppled over the dang edge. I looked around the room, _again… _as same as ever… _The scenery, quite frankly, was getting dull… Don't you think?_

_It was quiet… _too _quiet… _I thought to myself, hunching over, looking like a druggie. _But… the pain had basically evacuated… So I wondered when my last shot had been…_ I was yanked from my thoughts as I heard a loud roar of yelling and trampling feet… _some kind of parade gone wrong…? _

My body tensed, as the voices grew louder; it sounded as though they had crashed into something… or… something… _a fight…? Sounded like it. _With a sudden burst of wind, light, and chill, the mob rushed into the room, led by a group of demononic, mad scientist-looking doctors… WTF? A blond freak, a blue haired nerd, and a random brunette.

Amidst the mob, I barely identified Axel, in a (walking) heated conversation with someone, or more than one someone's. They jerkily walked in my direction, and completely surrounded me. I felt something sticking into my sides as they prodded me… _looking for bruises…? _A sharp pain interrupted me.

"HEY! WATCH IT BONE-HEAD!" I barked, then swatted at him. _You'll _create _them you fool… OUCH! _I smacked the insisting Blondie upside the head. His mouth dropped slightly. I hissed through clenched teeth, "I swear to god! Touch me one. More. Time. And I'll shove a stick up your ass so f-ing hard you won't be able to sit for a week!" …He backed off a bit.

The yelling was so loud; I felt a headache coming on. "SHUT UP!" I screamed, only worsening things for my head. But they shut their traps. I glared at those around me, and realized I had been over exaggerating, about the mob. There were only five lab-looking freaks and Axel and a young girl with platinum blonde hair. _Maybe around thirteen… fourteen…? _I instantly thought of… a character… from a book… can't remember the title… Chick was really odd though… and has the blonde hair… What's her name…? Whatever.

Blondie was yammering at the guy who I recognized as the checkout person. "-YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO ASK FOR AN ID!"

"I DIDN'T KNOW!"

"It's common sense," I said flatly, butting into their screaming match.

They continued as if I hadn't interrupted. "PLUS! I DON'T REMEMBER EVER SEEING _ANYONE'S _ID!"

I sighed deeply and tried to block it all out…it didn't work.

"THE POINT _IS! _SHE. ALL. READY. GOT. HURT. AFTER. ABOUT. Only… and HOUR or two!"

I couldn't hear my voice above everyone. "Why do all of you care anyways?" I said it a second time, and then a third spent screaming it.

Silence.

The little girl stepped forward, looking to the floor, "You saved my life... even after things went completely downhill…"

"What are you talking about…?"

"Long story," said one of the other doctors I haven't seen before, actually, I think she's a nurse. "Lets just say… everyone knows about it…"

I paused for a moment, and turned to look at Axel, "What about you then? Why do _you _care…?"

"You remind me of a friend…" He suddenly looked extremely sad, and I wished I hadn't put so much emphasis on "you".

I was about to turn to Blondie, but he spoke, _snapped really,_ as I opened my mouth to speak, "It's my job."

"Overly worried for just a job, don't you think?" I snapped, with equal venom.

There was a lull in the conversation, the little girl went to grab a damp cloth, and the female spoke. "You were basically the hero. And it was almost impossible… like, with the state you were in."

The little girl had to tap my shoulder to get my attention, and I held the refreshing cloth to my forehead.

"So…" I began, "What exactly happened…?" The doctors began to disperse, leaving Axel and the child with the story. Axel sighed obviously.

"Long story…"

"Okay…?"

"So… What's the last thing you remember?"

"Doctors having a spasm." I said swiftly with a smirk. Axel sighed. "Okay, okay," I said in irritation, and closed my eyes to think. It was a long while before I said anything. "I don't know… because now that I think of it…" I paused, and then added abruptly, "I remember pain. There was a lot of pain. And fire. And screaming… and darkness… and a lot of… well, I could just _feel _it… feel death," I finished bent over, clutching my chest, which burned. And as I think of it, there was this sharp stab of pain that coursed through my bones. I shuddered.

Axel and the girl stayed silent. I stared at the blonde girl. She was small, and wore this weird, green wool sweater, _I think_, over a white button down shirt, _or is it a "button _up_" shirt…? _ She sported a faded blue pair of skinny jeans, and dirty tennis shoes. Old and worn. The girl's albino curls gently rested on her shoulders. _She looks extremely familiar… She said I saved her life, did I?_

"What's your name?" I suddenly asked her. She flinched.

"Ingrid," she whispered very quietly, barely audible. And before I continued with my questions, Axel stopped me.

"Do you remember how you got here?"

"No," I said flatly, somewhat disappointed. "I remember being scorched though… and things falling from the skies…"

"Those were meteorites…" Ingrid inputted. I nodded, burrowed in thought.

"How long has it been," I asked, "since the invasion?"

"A week…" Axel said, holding his chin in his hand.

"I thought it was more than that…" Ingrid said, confused.

"Light must've playing your eyes… it's been cloudy and dark since it all happened… there's no sense of time… They even took down clock towers… You know what _they_ are? Right?"

"_Heartless", automatically came to mind even though I didn't really even know what they were. _"Heartless, I think…" I paused, "I believe I may have battled one once… but…" I gripped my head; my fingers ran over a hidden scar. My heart skipped a beat… _I didn't even know I had it. _"But I can't remember when," I quickly finished.

"Then that would explain your injuries…" Axel said… _Injuries… Do I have a lot of them…? _I decided to play dumb.

"What injuries…?"

Axel looked at me through his hair. "Please tell me you're joking…" he sighed, "We fixed them, but you'll always have a scarred face…" I brought my hands back to my head, _was it really that bad…? _ "Your battle would explain how you came to us with a cracked skull and an unhinged jaw…" I stared at him through blank eyes. "And the fault of your leg falls to the meteorites. Do you remember where you were found…?"

"Outside of a district…?"

"The second. We think you may have been from the first… but we don't know… Kaori, there's no record or you having lived there, or in any of the districts…"

"How do you know?" I asked, a little worried.

"Looked it up."

"I thought you needed a last name…"

"Well, I looked up all the "Kaori's", and none of them looked like you…"

"It's not your real name," Ingrid asked, "Is it?" I shook my head _"no"_.

"You know what the First District _is_, right?" Ingrid asked. I shook my head; my expression was like a blank piece of paper.

"It's something… _bad_… Well, anyways, because of it, everyone who lives there needs their name and picture on record since they were born, which needs an update every-so-often. With the other two, you need to have all the information in by the time you're seventeen. And the thing is, there're like, more than a thousand people who lived here… so… that... Would take… like, FOREVER!" said Axel.

"Right… one girl's identity isn't as important as saving the world, right?" I responded, smirking for some reason…

Axel shrugged, and spoke, staring at the floor, "So, we need to figure out how to explain this to you without you totally falling asleep…"

* * *

Soon, I become distracted out of boredom.

The frosty air outside broke through the tent's defenses, sending me into a fit of shivers. There was this pain in my chest, seeing as part of me _was _indeed paying attention, and I don't even know where it came from, or why. I snapped out of my trance just as Axel started to get annoyed…_DEMENTORS!_

"Yes, I'm paying attention…" I said in an irritable, yet, weak, voice. They've been going on and on about memory and crap, and if I remember this and that and UGH! I watched them with a cross expression.

"No, I do _not _remember a thingy bashing my head into a wall! I told you before, I remember a _lot _of pain, but that's about it! And beg my pardon if I'm just a bit irritable!" I finished, surely red-faced, but I don't really care. Axel stared at me with raised eyebrows.

"Do you _really _want to know _that _badly?" I asked, just a tad annoyed. The two of them nodded quickly. "Fine," I snapped.

I listened to my own, annoying voice as I tried to explain to them about my encounter with the freaky demented bunny and the incident with the fence and it's weak spot. I couldn't remember if I crashed then and there when it happened, so I left it out.

"An then I traveled through a Great Forest of Trees!" I told them with a flourish and the biggest theatrical voice I could muster. "What was with all of the trees anyways? I know trees are good and all… but… there were a _lot _of trees!" I paused to let them interrupt if they wished. Neither of them did, so I carried on merrily… _note my sarcastic thinking voice, dear nobody who's not listening…_

"I remember a river…" I told them, "An ice cold river. As I recall, I had had a headache, so, after dumping it into the water, I wrapped the over-shirt around my head. There was a lot of blood too, I remember that now… and I kept thinking that I should be dead… but… I don't know," I shuddered as I thought back on it, my skin noticeably tinged with purple. I paused to take a breather.

"Travel. Travel. Travel. Blah, blah, blah. More travel. And METEORITES!" I finished, thrusting my arms into the air with a strained and pained expression on my face. Axel seemed to get extra annoyed as of this point, so I quickly lowered my arms, turned to face them eye-to-eye (because, previously I had been looking at them over my shoulder), and crossed my legs.

"So… then, well, you know what comes next. I reached the gate to some district, and my leg practically got blown off! Wait, are you sure that wasn't an exaggeration…? Meh, whatever... And then you found me," I stated, pointing at Axel, "And then you _dropped _me-"

"You DROPPED her?" Ingrid interrupts, shocked.

"Hey, I said sorry. And it wasn't my fault some Heartless decided to get tangled up in my legs!" Axel responded defensively.

"Wait… _what?_" I posed, confusedly.

"Basically, a Heartless tripped me, sending us to the ground. You follow?" He explained, then muttered to himself, "I bet it was Larxene's…"

I picked up after a pause, still confused about the whole "heartless" thing, but I decided not to bring it up. "Now, where was I…? Ah yes!" I opened my mouth to speak, but Axel cut me off.

"_Please _stop using that annoying as Hell voice!"

I blinked theatrically before obeying. "The last thing I remember," my voice a bit more serious than I had intended. I stared off at the ceiling.

"I wished I could see the sky one last time." My face fell as I stared at my hands. "So that's that… But I remember eyes…" I looked up at him, "Your eyes, Axel." We fell into silence. And stared at each other. And waited. And we listened to the wind outside, the emptiness of the tent. "So," I started, drawing it out, "wasn't there something specific you were supposed to tell me?"

Axel nodded vacantly, "Ingrid, your turn."

"But I don't know where to start," she complained and sighed. "Well, um… so, after you were _dropped_," she gave Axel this look, and I laughed to myself while Axel turned away "innocently". "You were just laying there… and by the time you got up by yourself, Axel was dragged off. Not literally of course. He was just kind of, drawn away. SO, you basically helped as much as you could. You did more than our "Defenders" did," Ingrid scowled, obviously cursing them in her head. She sighed deeply, her shoulders dropping.

"This all sounds far fetched, I know, but that's why everyone calls you the 'hero'. Kaori, you should not have been able to walk, much less _fight_. Not with that leg of yours, you should have been crippled!"

"You even climbed a freaking _tree_, a burning one at that, to get into a house, also aflame, just to get _one_ person," Axel said, playing with his thumbs.

"Which was me," Ingrid added quickly.

"And then you helped lead people into the Third District, even fought off threatening Heartless," Axel continued, ignoring the looks Ingrid shot at him.

"Yes, but what _is _a 'Heartless'?" I interrupted with frustration.

"Hard to explain… they're basically the hearts of the vanquished, or when a heart is swallowed by darkness. Some called Purebloods, don't release hearts, they're the hearts themselves, complete and utter darkness… then there are those in which are called Emblems-" Axel stopped abruptly, seeing as I was staring at him with a total "I'm so lost" expression.

"But if they are called "Heartle –"

"They are named so because lack of emotional capacity… I know it's a lot to take it… so this will be a story for later… So, where were we…?" says Axel. I begin to zone out, thinking, as Ingrid tries to go on with her story, I just couldn't help it.

I sort of… _remember _what happened now… but as I tried digging deeper, my body flooded with searing pain. The memories were too strong, and seemed to come too fast, which made my head pound with every pulse. I could feel the agony that every step had taken, feel its screaming as I climbed that bloody tree. I winced and cried out as I remembered the jump from the window. It feels as though glass still clings to the insides of my arms. I wondered what their expressions were… I gave quite a yell once it had started, but my eyes have been glued shut since.

I heard Ingrid run off someplace, and felt a hand placed on my shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

"No," I groaned, my eyes still shut, falling over clutching my sides. Axel doesn't know what to do, and began to babble like a child. After five agonizing minutes, my nausea finally dissipated, leaving me trembling.

Ingrid ran back with cloth in hand and a glass of water in the other. I downed the water in one gulp. My shoulders heaved as I struggled to control my breathing. Ingrid and Axel wouldn't look at me. I wanted to cry, to cling to something… or hit it. It's not about them… I just felt weak, and I _hate _feeling weak. Maybe I hate it in the memories I can't remember.

I want my memories back. All of them. Now. _Minus the pain, and then I'm set!_

Silence echoed until Axel broke it, and it shattered like a mirror.

"Kaori, you should rest before we go on…"

"No," I muttered defiantly, Axel gave me a warning look. "I might be a bit tired, so what?"

"I don't like repeating myself… and it's a _lot _to take in…"

"I'll pay attention," I said automatically. Ingrid sighed next to us.

"We're not sure how- how you were able to heal, well, with Axel's help… but the thing is… you should have been _dead_…" Ingrid said softly.

"I know, we emphasized that already."

"It stumped everyone, especially the doctors… They think you still have healing to do though… it'd be reasonable if you didn't push yourself…" Ingrid said, and I glare at her.

"Then what do I do if I need to get around?" I demanded

"Axel could carry you," Ingrid offered.

"Hey! Don't volunteer me!"

"I'm just saying it'd be a nice thing for you to do!"

Before any of them could say anything more, I interrupted, "I don't want to depend on anyone. I can do it myself," I say sourly. Ingrid objects, and for once, Axel agreed, though reluctantly. "Maybe," I said bitterly.

"Soooo…" said Ingrid, trying to change he subject, but failing miserably.

"We think this had something to do with it," Axel expressed.

"Huh?"

I looked up at him, and examined what was dangling from his hand, a black and silver… charm? A star-shaped art metal piece, it seemed. As it twirled I notice a strange design at its center, some kind of crest?

"Where did you get this?" I demanded, and snatched it from him, feeling familiar… _who's was it?_

"It was around your neck when I found you," Axel replied, but I was not paying attention; it seems as though the entire world has lost its sound.

I held it up, spinning it with my fingers. Pictures danced through my mind as I stared at it, things I do not know, or maybe things I do not remember. There are only glimpses so I never really get a clear picture. I'm in such a deep trance; I couldn't see Axel waving his hand in front of my eyes.

It is then that I saw a reflection in one of the star's arms, only, it wasn't mine, or Axel's, or Ingrid's… but a boy's. A boy I couldn't remember. I stared into his bright blue eyes, and as fast as he had appeared, he vanished. Just vanished. His name was whispered around me, but each time I was about to murmur it, I forgot it completely.

I sighed, and slipped the charm around my neck. As I stared into the candlelight, one word reached my ears…

_Brother_…

I'd completely frozen, but before I realized what I was doing, I'd kicked the cot and Axel's chair over in complete fury. I had him pinned to the floor, his face as red as his hair as I gripped the collar of his shirt and shook his shoulders.

"_What happened to the First District? WHAT HAPPENED?"_ My throat was scratchy, and I was so close to his face that our noses were almost touching.

"I don't know," he confessed quickly.

"Oh, I think you do," I fumed, tightening my grip. In the end, Axel managed to get out from under me, but I wouldn't let go.

Someone walked into the room at this moment. I looked up to stare into Blondie's eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but he had put up a hand for silence.

"We presume that the First District is gone, swallowed up by darkness. You were our only survivor."

"There has to be a mistake," I said weakly.

"Then it must be a _person _you were looking for?" Blondie asked. I nodded slightly. He stared at me with a cruel expression.

"Vexen, you made sure that someone searched through the district, correct?" Axel questioned.

"Of course, there were countless searches, but all unrevealing to anybody of importance." Blondie replied. I didn't believe him, nor did I trust him, but before I could say anything more, he'd left. Axel peeled my hands from his shirt, and I slowly sunk to the floor, panting.

"Sorry, about that, Axel," I told him softly, staring up at him sideways. "I shouldn't have done that."

_My… brother… _A tear slipped from my eye, splashing onto the ground.

"It's alright," Axel stated, setting the cot and the chair back up. It is then that I noticed a large red mark upon his cheekbone where I must've slapped him.

"Oh my God! I am _so _sorry!" I had almost yelled, sitting up quickly. "Ingrid, will you get him some ice?" she nodded and sprinted off, a fearful expression in her eyes. _Great. _

"I don't need it," Axel said and sat down next to me. I opened and closed my mouth rapidly, a wordless apology. "It's alright Kaori, I'll be fine," he sighed and stared at the floor, "I should have known you may find something upsetting. That's why I withheld it from you in the first place… please don't hit me again." He held up his hands as if to block. _Was there something in my expression? _

"If you don't mind me asking… do you know what that is?" he questioned, nodding at my charm.

"Oh this?" I asked, holding it up. "I don't know, some kind of charm…? I don't know where I got it from either," I paused to look up into his eyes. "You know that I saw my brother's reflection, right? It triggered– why I leapt at you." I sighed, looking at my feet.

"Could it have been your brothers?"

"Maybe," I replied, shrugging, "But then, why would _I _have it?"

"Don't know."

"I'm so sorry," I muttered again. I saw Ingrid returning with a BIG bag of ice. "Please except it," I told Axel quickly.

"Huh?" Axel murmured just as Ingrid reached us. She gingerly handed me the ice. I hope she doesn't stay afraid for long.

"Here, let me help," I said, sliding over to him before he could reject, and I held the ice to his cheek.

"I've got it," he muttered and took the bag. Feeling pathetic, I stood and sat upon the cot sighing deeply. We sat, and never muttered a word, until _I _said anything.

"So… um… why… w-w-why don't I have clothes of my own?" I asked with embarrassment. It was a random question, yet, a rather important one.

"Huh? Oh, um, they were kind of… burned… _off_… When you jumped from the house, you sort of… caught fire…" he explained as I stared at him wide-eyed.

"_What?" _

"Yea…"

"Well, that's just… _perfect_, just _perfect_," I muttered sarcastically, throwing my arms up, and fell back down onto the cot.

"… And all the clothes stores were burned down…"

I stared at him blankly

"… _and _the restaurants… and just about everything else…" Axel said, and began counting them off on his fingers. After a while, he stopped, "So, that would be the cause for all of the shortages…"

"Great," I muttered, staring at the ceiling. "Wait, _why _did they get burned down?"

"Somehow, the Heartless got into the Third District first, took down about half our resources, maybe even more… we were able to force them out though, thank god… It seems like all of this was planned, so, it's kind of freaky, because they've never been this organized. I've told the Mayor, we need to evacuate totally, but he just won't listen… thinks we can rebuild… the truth is, we won't be able to resist the next wave." He paused as if he hadn't said anything serious just now, and asked, "Didn't I tell you this?"

I shrugged, "Maybe."

Silence, for a while at least. I looked down at Axel who's been staring at the ceiling, laying on his back.

"Did I ever say 'thanks'?" I wonder aloud. Axel shrugs. "Well, now I did. Thanks for saving me." I look back up at the ceiling.

"There are a few Halloween stores though," Axel randomly said.

"And how would that help?" I replied with raised eyebrows.

"Costumes of course! They're good for an extra set of clothing. Oh, and they are efficient in scaring little children." He answered matter-of-factly.

I stared at him with a 'WTF' expression, and we just cracked up. We could not stop laughing! I even fell to the floor I was laughing so hard.

* * *

It's been silent or a while, we were just laying there, and Ingrid sat near by, drawing… an elaborate cat…? She had this canvas-looking bag with cats all _over _it! The top rim and handles were black, and everything else was a mix of browns, blacks, and yellows… from here that's what it looks like anyways… and _plenty _of ears, adorable faces, whiskers, and small noses. There might be bodies too, but I'd lost interest now, so I looked away.

Axel had been suddenly standing, and motioned for Ingrid and me to follow him out. So, I hitched up the hem of the cloak, and hurried after him. Ingrid scrambled to pack everything up, slings the bag over her shoulder and quickly ran after us.

"Where are we going? I asked as soon as I had caught up with him.

"To find you some clothing," he responded simply. I walked silently behind him, allowing myself to be guided around. When I looked over my shoulder, Ingrid's gone. I sighed, and turned back around, staring at Axel's heels as I walked.

"Hey, Axel?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Ingrid is still afraid of me…?"

"What?" Axel asked, and I hadn't noticed he had stopped, so I walked right into him. I yelped childishly, rubbing my nose. I looked up at Axel who was smiling at me.

"You know what I just noticed…?" I asked randomly, and pause. Axel shrugged, _his way of telling me he's paying attention? _"You're really tall. Like, _really _tall."

Shrug.

"Maybe you're just short," he responded, still smiling.

"Or maybe, you're just freakishly tall!" I counter. Happy with myself, I put my hands on my hips, smirking.

"_And _you have woman hips."

"_DO NOT!" _Axel responded… _astounded…? _A slight flush was on his cheeks.

"Yup," I said, making the _p _pop, nodding. And then, Axel does the most childish thing he could think of: he sticks his tongue out at me. I shook my head. "C'mon," and I brushed past him, finding myself at the front of a Halloween store. "What the heck?" and when I remembered our little conversation, "_Right…"_

"K'ay, don't forget to put on your l'il tutu," Axel mocked me. I walk into the store, taking care not to look back; _I didn't want to give him that satisfaction. _The place is _huge_.

Almost all the lights were turned off, and there was evidence that looting had already happened. A lot of the racks were turned over on their sides, half empty. Cloths were laying in large pools across the floor, most were ripped. There's a _large _children's section, and it took the longest time to find mine. I feel my heart pounding, and wonder why I'm nervous. A floorboard creaked, and I jumped at my own shadow.

I turn right, and searched through each rack, circular and not. I stood straight, and peered through the dark. _Where the Hell is my size…? _I finally reach the "grown-up" section, and there was really nothing but masks (you know, the big rubber ones that completely covers your head), and dark capes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something walk past, brushing against one of the racks, making the hangers create that rippling noise. But as I turned quickly, there was no figure in sight.

_I'm scaring myself… there's no one in here but me… I hope… _My heart was hammering against my rib cage as I pass between two racks, and a particularly grotesque clown head mask, _no wonder everyone is afraid of clowns. _I shuddered, and just as I had done so, someone put their hand on my shoulder. I screamed so bloody loud, it felt as though the floor shook. The next moment, I found myself on the floor, legs poking out from beneath one of the circular racks. I was breathing heavily and Axel roared with laughter.

"I hate you," I panted, parting the clothing, peering up at him, glaring. "I honestly hate you." I heaved myself from floor, ignoring any help. "I nearly pissed myself back there!" and I hit him hard. Axel continued to laugh. I sighed, and waited for him to stop, my heart still pounding.

"The conversation we had about scaring little children? Were you considering _me _a child?" I wondered aloud once he had regained breath.

"No, but you face was _priceless!_"

I glared at him, "Shut up."

"Oh, but I was serious about the tutu thing."

"What– oh great," I muttered as Axel held up this ugly thing, with a deep blue velvety bodice and silver embroidery, with a black, frilly mess– you know, a tutu type of thing. _I feel _so _stupid saying that word! _

"Noooo! No, no, no, NO!"

"Hey, it's the Ballerina, or _this_." He held up one of those sexy nurse costumes. You know, low cut, _extremely _short, and really, _really _tight? I sighed.

"Fine," I grumbled, snatching the nurse costume from him. He also handed me this pair of black, thick, high heels. He then pointed me to a changing room.

I closed the green painted (peeling) wooden door with a _bang! _and latch it shut. I slipped off the cloak and hung it on the back of he door. I held up the white nurse uniform to glare at it. There's extra padding… _great, now it'll be like I'm wearing _two _bras!_

Something hit my face, and I realized that Axel had thrown me a small nurse hat to go with the outfit. _Hell no! _And I kicked it to the other side of the room.

_I can barely get it over my bum! _I muttered to myself as I struggled with the costume. _Oh my God! It's like they sewed a towel! _

There was this little mirror in the corner, and seeing my reflection… holy… Hell…? Not only are my damn curves accented 100%... my boobs! My boobs are too fricking big, they're gonna overflow this thing! _Or maybe it's the other way around, the costume is just too freaking small… ugh._

I curse Axel in my head. _I swear to GOD Axel! If you set me up for this… I will BEAT. The. CRAP! Out of you! _I grumble as I sat down on the little bench, and pull on the heels. _At least they're comfy… and give me some extra height. I may even reach Axel's chin with these! But even with the shoes that's not likely (might need a phone book or two…), because, if I were on my normal feet, if I raised one of my arms as high as it could go, my fingertips could barely brush the edge of the red mass atop his head… _I stand, and turn in the mirror a second time. _Bloody Hell. _It's so fricking short, you can almost see my underwear! I stomped my feet, and watched my face grow red. I stormed out of the stall, and almost ran into the wall. Axel starts staring (at what, I don't know). I was fuming as I had stormed over to him, holding my chest. He gave me this look.

"What, they're gonna fall out!" I nearly screamed.

"…"

"No, screw this! I'm looking for a witch's costume!" I stormed back to the racks.

"There's only hats," Axel said to my back. I was completely still, rigid. "_WHAT?" _I could feel my face heating up further. I stumbled, and stomped over to him. I opened my mouth to yell at him, hand raised, pointing, when we heard someone outside. When she emerges, Ingrid's hair is like a light bulb.

"Good news! We were able to sweet tal–" she cut herself off once she saw me, "Aw, you look _terrible_…"

Axel starts to laugh his ass off, _now I strongly believe he set me up. _

"Ooooh!" I muttered through clenched teeth, I was so sick of it. I walk up to him, and practically knock his head clean from his shoulders. Axel instantly stopped laughing, staring at me with a shocked expression.

"Man, _Axel! _That's _twice _she's hit you–"

"Three–" I correct, but then Axel interrupts.

"I don't hit girls."

"And he knows I'd hit him back harder."

"And it's not like I don't deserve it…"

"Well, it's good you know that then," I muttered, my arms folded across my chest.

"But ANYWAYS! We were able to sweet talk some residents into giving up a few spare changes of clothing," Ingrid redirected the conversation.

"Thank _GOD!" _and I rush back to get out of this damned thing.

* * *

We head out of the shop once I've changed and backtrack all the way we had come. Axel offers to carry me since I had already walked a lot today. After much hesitation, however, I finally agreed.

A new sheet of snow has fallen, and it crunches under our feet as we walk, well, _Axel _stomps, I have to remind him whom he's carrying. The sky seemed to have cleared up a bit, but it's still this ugly shade of gray.

We walk down a road that was loosely patrolled, and past countless houses, all packed tight.

We had reached the dead-end, where the dirt path leading up to the clinic should be, when Ingrid leads us down the frosted/iced sidewalk (Axel almost slipped at least twice) to a "Resources" tent. Holding the flap open, she let the both of us pass through first. Axel set me down once we were inside.

Along the wall to the right layed boxes upon boxes of charitable clothes, but I presumed that about half of them were already emptied.

"There are a lot of empty boxes…" Ingrid trails off as she rummages through one of the nearest boxes labeled: "Girl's/Jeans".

"There were a few good things that the girls let us have, but a lot of them had ripped seams."

Axel sat down by the counter, and asks for a map for some odd reason. Ingrid holds up a pair of jeans, but I don't see them right away. She got irritated, and threw them at my face. She begins to rummage through "Girl's/Shirts". What I didn't notice, was that she had set out a HUGE pile of jeans.

Someone at the desk points me in the right direction of a changing room, and Ingrid continues to search through boxes.

**Axel pov**

I sat on the floor, observing a map as they go _on and on and ON _with the Scavenger Clothing Hunt. Quite frankly, I've gotten extremely BORED! But no one cares what I think, right? I peer down at the recreated map, of what's left and what's not, and I _still _haven't found an ice cream shop!

I think I must've dozed off, because I open my eyes to find Kaori poking my shoulder.

"How does it look?" She asked, stood up, and turned around in a circle. Sturdy, faded blue jeans with holes at the knees, black tank-top under a sound yellow shirt, and a worn evergreen-tree colored "Abercrombie and Fitch" hoodie… _looks comfortable… _

"Like it," I say simply, an look back at the map. I could just hear her pouting, Kaori sat down next to me, and asked what I had been doing.

"Looking for an ice cream shop…" I trailed off. She doesn't believe me.

"It looks like you've been _drooling_," Kaori stated, laughing. _Crap, then I _did _fall asleep… and I _HATE _it when people watch me sleep! _Instead, I shrug. After an awkward silence, Kaori asks, "Well, have you found any shop?"

"Nope."

"That sucks."

"Yup."

**Kaori pov**

I slip the cloak over my shoulders, slightly warming up. Still, the tent could not hide us from winter's chill. I shiver, despite the fact that I'm under layers of cloth.

"Hey, Kaori? Can I have my cloak back now?" Axel asked, still peering down at the map. _I hadn't realized it was his… _A smirk rises on my lips.

"_No_," I said playfully, "It's _warm_. I _like _it!" My smirk widens into a smile, and Axel chuckled. I giggled.

"Figured."

**Axel's pov**

I helped Kaori to her feet once Ingrid returned with a pair of shoes (and socks), and lookie here! I _finally _found an ice cream shop! _(Turned out to be shut down.)_

"Well, this turned out to be a good day!" Ingrid exclaimed happily, swinging her arms at her sides, as we head back to the clinic. I had offered to carry Kaori again.

"Yes it has! I got my wardrobe for a day, complete too!" Kaori exclaims gleefully.

"Well, for the clothing part… you got no make-up…" Ingrid chimed in, somewhat disappointed.

"She doesn't need it," I added as we reached the clinic, and set Kaori on her feet.

"Now, you know that they may just eat our faces off for being gone the entire day, right?" I asked. It so turns out, Kaori thought I was being serious!

* * *

**Kaori pov**

The three of us leaned against a wall, eating ice cream, after sneaking out, yet again. _Yes, _ice cream_, even though it's bloody cold! _Axel finally got his wish, and found some kind of old treat shop, candies and desserts all unwrapped and fresh.

We got something called… Sea Salt…? It was a pretty light blue, and _really _salty, but _really _sweet at the same time… _I feel like I had said that before… maybe a few moments before? I could have simply forgotten… _

I lean my head back against the wall, sucking on the wooden stick, my fingers were all sticky. Ingrid takes out a small bottle of hand sanitizer from her cat bag after she threw away the wooden stick. She took a dab, and lent it to me, having to reach over Axel to do so.

He, on the other hand, has been savoring it for some time, obviously thinking about something.

I shivered against the wind, closing my eyes. _AAAGH! Brain Freeze. Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!_ I shake my head clear, or attempt to.

"Try pressing your thumb against the roof of your mouth as hard as you can." She demonstrated, I copied, it worked.

A bone chilling cold ran down my spine as the wind kicked up a storm. I shiver under Axel's cloak as my mind wanders. It was a lot to take in. My face falls, and I debate whether or not I should ask Axel. _He… was my brother after all…_

"Axel?" I ask softly, "I _have _to check… to just see if.. if… I can find a body or… or _something_…"

He sighed, "Kaori, there might not even _be _a First District."

"I don't care," I said with determination, "I _need _to try, or else it will be on of my greatest regrets…"

* * *

**A/N: DONE! Well, anyways, hope you all liked that last chapter, I think it was pretty epic, but I am **_**extremely **_**happy to be done with it!**

**Now! I promised that I would not bring the characters from the story into my A/N's, so I'm just gonna say this with out them.**

**When my sister and I were correcting the chapter, we found this funny as heck grammar correction alert thingy, you know, the green line? It was when Axel was telling Kaori about the first district and how you need your information in since you were born (needs updates), and in the other two, when you're seventeen.**

"… **by the time you're seventeen…"**

**Is what Axel said. The correction came up under "you're". It wanted us to change "you're" to "you is".**

"… **by the time you is seventeen…" …?**

**Heck no, Axel would sound **_**extremely **_**stupid, PLUS this was a **_**grammar **_**correction! For these two reasons, my sister and I could not stop laughing. So… are we the only two who think this is funny?**

**Thank you for reading! **_**Please **_**review!**

**-Reese**


	10. Tai

**Chapter 10- Tai **

"Kaori, you're not listening –" Axel said. I cut him off.

"You don't understand!" I responded furiously, standing up. "He's my brother!"

"I know that," Axel snapped, rising to his feet to.

"But you're not going to let me go, will you?"

"You know I can't let you run off!"

"WHY?" I screeched, lifting myself onto my toes.

"BECAUSE!" Axel yelled back. I snorted, and flung myself back down, hugging my knees, chin rest upon them.

"He's my brother…" A tear slipped down my cheek. Axel sighed, and sat down next to me. "You can't make me stay," I muttered.

"Then why aren't you leaving?"

I shrugged, shaking my head. "I don't know…" At this moment– was it Vexen…?– walked in, asking what all the "ruckus" was about. I quickly stood up, and screamed in his face.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! I DON'T BELIEVE IT WHEN YOU SAY NO ONE ELSE SURVIVED FROM THE FIRST DISTRICT! I don't…" I was on my toes now, staring into his frosty green eyes. _I don't like it… they're a bit like Axel's… but more… warmer… but empty… and with an edge… _

Vexen, who was taken aback, remained silent. My body shuddered, and I could imagine smoke billowing out of my nose.

"But you mustn't go–" Vexen finally managed to squeak.

"I don't even _care! _I _am _checking the bloody district even if it gets me killed!" I vexed. But, as I stormed away, Axel had caught my wrist. I turned and stared where our hands met, and looked up to glare at him. Axel shook his head, telling me not to go.

"Let. Me. _Go,_" I said firmly, menacingly. I wrenched my arm from him, and stormed out of the room, down the path, raced down the street, and got miserably lost. I wandered for an hour, knowing that each minute would be costly if I didn't hurry.

**Axel's pov**

I watched her go with a defeated expression.

"Well, go after her!" Vexen demands, composing himself. "And take _her _with you!" Vexen gripped Ingrid by the arm, yanked her up from the floor, and threw her to me, followed by her cat bag. She scowled at him as I turn to leave. Ingrid had to run to catch up.

She followed silently. _I would think she was tired of being dragged around all day… _

"So… we're gonna try to catch up with her…? Stop her before she gets to the First District?" she asked, fumbling with her bag.

"Yup," I muttered.

"I don't blame her, for wanting to go after him…"

"Neither do I… but I've gotta hand it to her… she's determined."

Not before long, we finally reached to fire-damaged gate, still no sign of our escapee. I pushed open the wooden door, and let Ingrid pass through first. I trailed behind her a bit before she got confused, and accidentally circled back.

There was nothing really… everything burned down… nothing but ash… all ready I could see Darkness eating away at the walls. I knew it wasn't the sky. I know Darkness when I see it.

**Kaori pov**

I ended up getting _really _lost before I finally caught sight of the gate through a bundle of damaged trees. I sighed deeply. A while ago, I saw Axel and Ingrid walking through the area, looking for me; I should've trailed behind… I would've found the gate a _long _time ago… but I didn't want them to see me, and force me to give up on my endeavor.

I wove between the fire brushed trees, and thrust open the gate. There was no sign of Axel or Ingrid. Everything was burned to the ground, so there were no reference points, none at all. The walls were covered in this thick black stuff, like it was prepped for a funeral… _Fits. _I thought bitterly to myself as I slowly walked down what was once a road. Darkness swells upon the pavement, branching off like large, ugly purple veins.

A "death-cold" chill possessed the air. It wasn't like the winter frost, or like anything I've ever felt. _I don't like this… _I think as I take off at a run down the road, Darkness catching at my heels.

**Axel pov**

_Where are you? _I was beginning to get worried, though I tried to hide it. _It shouldn't be hard to find someone if there's nothing for it to hide behind!_

I stopped, Ingrid walking a little a head of me.

"Do you think it's possible we passed her?" she asked, back turned to me.

"I don't know… maybe," I replied, shrugging. _Where the Hell could she be? _"But it does no good to stop, let's keep moving, maybe we'll end up running into her."

**Kaori pov**

As I got nearer and nearer to the far edge, things got darker, and darker, and _darker_. I was headed to the way I had come earlier in the week, but, as soon as I reached the smashed "side-entrance", I realized that Darkness had already gotten to it, lacing over the great gate's cracked surface. _I would have to look for the main entrance, the only think is, I have _no _idea where it is… Hey, maybe I could ask for directions! From who? A dead person? The _floor_? Pfft, yea sure, as if that wouldn't make me look royally stupid…_

I sighed deeply and quickly traced my steps back to that road I was following. _Just walk straight… just walk straight… _I told myself. There _has _to be a road running right through, right…? Like, a main road… there _had_ tobe! I took off at a run, feet pounding against the pavement.

There was a sudden change of ash to rubble, where the main square must've been… the gate _has _to be close now… I skid to a stop, staring in all directions; _I'm running out of time… HURRY! _And I do, but instead of kicking up dust, ash comes flailing into the air.

**Axel pov**

I run down a paved pathway, following footprints in the ash, no wind to move them. It seems as though neither snow, nor rain has graced this place… it was just as we had left it. Movement caught my eye, and I dash off in its direction, leaving Ingrid in the ash, _literally… _I weave in and out of the rubble, until I saw her, Kaori, standing in the middle of the town square. I step out, quietly, almost as if I was trying to sneak up on her. She suddenly runs off, as if spooked.

"Well brilliant," Ingrid's voice made me jump.

"Shut up," I muttered, and tore after our little escapee.

**Kaori pov**

It was suddenly dark, as I finally reached my destination, which was set back against a pure dark wall. I jog up to it, feeling a bit tired, even if my adrenaline is still running rapid. My hand rested upon the rusty handle when I heard someone yell my name. His voice is scratchy, tired even, and laced with worry. I don't have to turn to know it's Axel, and know he's not far. I tug on the door as it's being sealed against the wall; already the top of it is fading away. It didn't budge.

I tugged harder. Still didn't budge. I pull as hard as I could, and one of my hands slipped, which sent me backward. I scrambled to my feet, and back to the door, and just as I grip the stupid handle, Axel caught my waist. It actually helped, seeing as I still have a hold on the door, Axel helped me pull it open, even if it was by a hair. The wood was thick, like, _really _thick, as if it were trying to keep something or someone out. I hold fast as Axel looses his grip and falls back. The door was open enough for me to squeeze through, and I took this time to do so.

And they were right… there was nothing here…

* * *

I couldn't even begin to describe what I saw… well, I _could… _but still…

My mind was reeling, I couldn't think straight! HELLO! There was this… _giant _black… _thing… _just black… complete and total _black… _The only light was behind me, light that had escaped between the cracks of the door… In front of me was a-a-a… totally _pitch _black… room…? If that's what you call it…

It looks as if there was no floor, no ceiling, no walls… just this great expanse of… _black_… like cloth, like black cloth… only… thicker… yea… thicker… I looked as far as the eye could see…

_Yes… _this _is what Darkness does… destroy… _

I slowly take a step further, afraid my foot would sink, only it didn't. The only thing it _did _do… was swirl around my ankles as I continued to walk wearily forward.

The door seemed far behind now, and tears began to flow in endless streams. Then I noticed it… Not from my feet, lay a body, just _one_. Just laying there, silently. I kneeled down, not sure what to do. I roll the body over, its shoulder resting on my knee. I couldn't clearly see its face, but… it seemed as though he was a boy… I move slightly to the right, and a single ray of light falls onto his face. I almost burst into tears… because I recognized him… _Brother… _my _brother… _

"So… you finally managed to come," his voice was soft, tired… sad…

"I-I-I'm s-sorry –" I stammered.

"Don't be," my brother said even more softly, barely audible. "It's not your fault… you didn't know…"

"But I promised_… _I _promised," _I begin to cry as loose memories came and went, barely stitched together. "I'm so sorry brother–"

"You don't even remember my name? Well, that's a shame," he said, peering up at me. I remained silent, my tears doing the talking. "Well, I'm not gonna tell you… you need to remember it for yourself… just wish you could've known it… _before…_"

"I am _so _sorry…"

"Stop it… I forgive you… your repeating is gonna get annoying."

"Sor –"

"Stop it!"

I clamped my mouth shut. A tear slipped of off my cheek and onto his.

"Don't cry… this'll just make it harder… just… just _try _to remember… but don't kill yourself over it of course…"

"How's that going to work?" I snapped, and then I wish I hadn't… because he's dying…

"Easier said than done… I know… but seriously, stop crying. She's gonna take care of me… you can trust her. She loves me, you know… because of you…" His words were scattered. "She even let me come back to talk to you."

"Who the Hell is _she?_"

"You'll know when you know…" my brother answered evasively, I scowled. "Here, take this," and he handed me a charm identical the one around my neck, except… red and black. I stared down at it, almost angrily. "Mom made them for us, remember…? Nah, you probably don't… she made the black and silver for me, and the red and black for you… then we traded… you know, so we could –"

"Give luck to the other, I remember… I just don't remember who _mom_ is…" I said sadly.

"Yea… but I'm sure memories will float up sooner or later…" We remained silent. I sighed deeply, staring at my hands. My brother sat up, even though I could see the amount of energy it took.

I wrapped him in a tight hug, after all, I won't ever be able to again, and kept telling him that I loved him, refraining from apologizing as he had asked me to.

"You know what I miss…?" he asked after a while.

"Hmm?"

"The stars… they were exceptionally great in our home in the First… it was about the only thing I loved there…"

"When I thought I was going to die… well, about every five minutes I had thought that… I wished I could see the sky one last time…"

"Why couldn't you…?"

"Blind… it's gotten better… a _lot _better… but actually… the sky is gray… completely gray… it's been a week since everything was… normal… I guess…"

"Sis, _nothing's _been normal since we were sentenced to the "Home of the Criminals"… well, that's what you called it…"

I raise my brow. "We lived in a _jail…?_"

"Yes… for no apparent reason…"

"Why?" I insisted.

"Our parents vanished."

"Lovely," I muttered sarcastically.

"Yes, yes, _very _lovely… they tried sentencing you to death a few times too actually…"

"Why this is a cheerful subject," my throat keeps me from laughing.

"Hmm… they thought you were trying to set the forest on fire… maybe you were, I don't know…"

The scratchy, hiccupping, dying donkey noise that came forcing its way up my throat almost put me in shock. _How, we are able to laugh, in my case, wheeze, in a time like this… I do not know… _

"The only reason that got you off the hook was me."

"_You_?"

"Yes, _me. Everyone _loves me, you should know that by now…"

Another of those creepy as Hell noises forced its way again, _I am going to have a seizure…! _That only makes me laugh more. We fall silently, and I notice we're still hugging each other.

"What do you suppose will happen…?" I asked…

"Things will run its course… you know, you'll survive while I die…"

"Shut up," I said angrily, "I don't want to think about that," and let go of him. Eventually, my mind wanders, and I find myself trying to remember his name… I guess he wants me to remember my own name on my own too… _ugh, why can't he just tell me?_ My brother suddenly addresses someone else before curling up next to me.

"You take care of her, or I swear, I will come back from the dead to haunt you."

I looked around to see Axel, who was nodding, '_yes'… He must've finally got past the door… _I turned back around and scrunched my eyes up even tighter. _Think… _think_… Jacob…? No, no… Jasper…? I don't think so… Peter…? Nope… Alex? No, no, no– _My thoughts are interrupted as my brother hugged me again, I hugged him back and kissed his forehead.

"I'm out of time sis… Remember that I love you." I was wordless. _Why does it have to be so sudden…? _He addressed Axel again, speaking quickly now, "Take her from here as soon as it's done. _Get her out of here_, is that clear?"

_What is his name? _I hissed to myself… _what is it, what is it, WHAT IS IT? _I gave up and broke down in tears. They were wiped away.

"Give me a smile, I don't want to remember you with a tear stained face."

"How can I smile? Seriously!" My mind completely lost track.

"I love you," we said in unison.

He sighed, "I'm sorry sis. I… see you later." And with a shudder, the last wisp of air was taken from him… and I remembered.

"No! Wait! I remember! _Tai…" _Tears silently fell onto his face, my tears, and I collapsed, wrapping my arms around him, sobbing my eyes out, and kissed his forehead. I wondered if I'll ever smile again.

My body was weak now, limp, like a deflated balloon… I didn't even notice when Axel carried me effortlessly away, Ingrid following solemnly behind. I hadn't realized I had completely curled up in his arms, sobbing. I didn't know everyone gasped as we got through to the Third, or when the doctors swarmed us before we even reached the clinic… asking endless questions, Axel defending me… I didn't even notice when I was placed back on the stretcher, or when I fell asleep…

All I knew was that I had lost a brother… but regained a memory… and both left me broken.


	11. SLEEP!

**A/N: I didn't know what to title it, so I just did! This chapter is dedicated to Roxy! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11- SLEEP! **

_**Kaori pov**_

There was nothing left. I felt nothing, not the chill, not the warmth, not even me. It was as if I were an empty vessel, a puppet… but who was the one pulling the strings? No, no… I didn't even have that.

I was only aware of my tears, permanently staining my cheeks. I didn't care anymore, it didn't matter… it wasn't like I could stop the tears anyway… I wasn't me. I was supposed to be strong, hating weakness, brushing it aside… but who could ignore the pain of losing a brother? No one. Not even me. _Especially_ not me.

I shivered against the wind without really feeling it. I buried my face in my arms, huddled in a hidden place, out of the way. I wondered if they had given up looking… I wondered if they even stopped caring… I didn't think that would be possible for two certain people… Axel and Ingrid. They were the closest things I ever had to friends… if you count out Tai. A fresh burst of tears exploded from my eyes.

I wiped my eyes with vigor. But they were never dry; each tear was replaced with another. I gave up and tried to block everything out. I curled up even tighter. I was tucked into the undergrowth well enough, buried at the base of a great tree, wrapped within its roots.

The forest gave me a sense of peace, familiarity, and comfort… but no matter how much I tried, I could not place the memory… Instead…? I uncovered random, almost useless, incomplete memories of myself. For instance, I remembered that I loved strawberries and that I always wondered why they were named so. I loved to read things called books...I hated certain vegetables, and I never dated _anyone_, but had my fair share in crushes… I loved animals, particularly the wolf. And then the thought of _that_, summoned the memory that I _loved _art. I had the faint recollection that I had had an eye for it.

My thoughts were a random string of consciousness, and I began to think the memories I had gained weren't such a waste of time. A weak smile played with my lips, but I had let it fall, I didn't know why… I just _did_. I was troubled, _did I _want _to be sad…? No, why would anyone in their right mind wish for that… _but then again, I _wasn't _in my "right mind"… everything was clouded in my pain.

I sighed deeply and stood up, brushing dirt from my lap, careful not to grind the particles into the fabric. I tried to smile. All the way back, I tried to force even the hint of one. I never succeeded. Soon, I reached the edge of the forest, light from the clinic showing through the foliage. I took a deep breath, and stepped out from under the blanket of trees. I watched my feet as I crossed across the ground, and soon, I felt the light of the lamps on my face. But before I could even reach the door, still staring at my feet, I'm wrapped tightly in arms, and a flash of warmth floods through me. _Axel_. I buried my head into his chest, and warp my arms around his waist.

I whisper a muffled apology. Axel doesn't reply. He just stands there, his body stiff against mine. He sighed deeply, and told me he understood that I had wanted to be left alone. I leaned away to stare into his emerald eyes, and relayed everything I had remembered.

"So nothing really important?"

"Nope," I answered glumly, and rested my head against his heart. He mumbled something I didn't quite catch, and hugged me tighter. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, listening to his quick heartbeat. A while later, I tried removing myself from the embrace, but found that I couldn't.

"Umm… Axel? You can let go now…" I muttered.

"Huh? Oh, right… Sorry," he mumbled and pulled away. He seemed a bit… startled… and he motioned for us to go inside. I raise my eyebrows at his back. Had he been _blushing_…? I didn't even knowhe _could_ blush… I had this sudden, weird feeling in my stomach. I brushed it off as hunger. It may as well have been; I hadn't eaten in what seemed like forever… My stomach groans, and I quickly push pass the flap of the tent.

The tent remained unchanged of its facilities and characteristics, so I didn't take the time to describe it in my head; the place was boring as a blank sheet of paper. I scratched the back of my head, and wound my way over to the redhead. Ingrid ran to greet me; she wasn't at all angry at my absence, unlike stupid Blondie over there… _He hovered like a stupid death… something… ANGEL! A Death Angel! _That_ should put him to shame…_ I smirked inwardly.

"Hey, Blondie, how about to put yourself to use, and grab me a cup of Hot Chocolate?" I said, loud enough for the entire enclosure to hear. Axel sniggered and Ingrid laughed softly, _it was as if she were afraid he would hear… _Vex– Blondie– turns his nose up, and stalks away. I burst into laughter. My shoulders shook, and my body trembled with mirth as I slammed to the floor. The rest of the doctors scowled, and turned their backs. _Seriously guys, it wasn't even that funny…? But then again, here I am, rolling on the floor… Maybe it was his expression. Yes, that would do it… _

My two friends sat on either side of me, still laughing, though lightly. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, my stomach inflating and deflating with each slow breath.

I laid with my head resting on Axel's stomach, and Ingrid's on mine. I let my eyes drift to a close, and after a few moments, I literally jump out of my skin at an exasperated voice.

"Here you are Kaori."

But what was funny… Vexen _actually _brought me a mug filled with hot chocolate (and whipped cream, yum…). Then my face fell as I stared at the mug suspiciously.

"What did you put in it…?"

"Poison! Poison Kaori! Just take the damn cup and enjoy it!" It was Axel. I backhanded his stomach. HA! This grunting noise crawled up his throat, making me giggle. He swatted at me in response.

Vex— I mean _Blondie_! — tapped his foot impatiently.

"Hold your horses," I mumbled after dodging a few lose, half-hearted swipes, and snatch the mug. I warned Axel of the consequences if he were to make me spill, and held the mug in front of the redhead's nose.

He half-opened his eyes.

"What?" he asked, wondering why the steaming thing was disturbing his nap.

"Drink it. Then if it IS poisoned, we won't have lost anyone important." I said, smiling.

"Fine, then at least I'll get some peace and quiet." Axel muttered, taking a sip. He licked his lips and looked up at me.

Then he convulsed violently and fell limp.

"AHH!" I screamed, throwing the mug behind me and nearly hitting Ingrid.

"What's going on?" She asked sleepily, blinking slowly.

"Axel! Don't die! I didn't mean that you weren't important!" I yelled, shaking Axel's shoulders as Vexen sighed and walked away.

Axel opened his eyes and started laughing hysterically, tears actually falling from his eyes. I sat frozen for a few moments before I remembered how to speak.

"You asshole!" I screamed, pushing him off the bed and taking the pillow.

He continued laughing until I fell asleep, Ingrid shrugging and lying back down on my stomach.

When I wake up, I was huddled tightly into Axel's side, his arms wrapped around me. I couldn't remember how I had gotten there, and for the moment, I didn't care… until Ingrid walked in.

"When are you two Cuddle Buddies gonna get up?" Her hands were on her hips as she stood hipshot, eyebrows raised. I opened one eye.

"What…?" I asked sleepily.

She scoffed. "You guys practically pushed me off the bed!"

_The Hell?_

"I couldn't sleep! It was terrible…"

I sighed, stretched, and sat up, Axel murmured in his sleep.

"Don't you remember? You were holding him like you were five years old, and he was your teddy bear!"

"DID NOT!" I scowled, Axel's arms tightened around my waist in his sleep. I sighed, "_He's _holding me like _I'm _the teddy bear!" My face froze, eyes popping wide. I screamed, jumped from the bed, and hid behind Ingrid's back. I watched him randomly hug a pillow in my place.

My lips curled upward into a smile when I saw Axel bury his face into the pillow, mumbling something about mommy. I came out from my hiding place behind Ingrid.

"Aww, he's so cute!" I whispered, patting his now slightly limp spikes.

That funny feeling had returned.

**A/N: Okay guys, sorry for the shortness, but it seemed like a good place to stop, so I did. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	12. POKE!

*****'Kay, so, just thought that I should let you guys know that this is like an hour or so after Chapter 11...**

**Kaori eats! Don't you ever wonder when the main character eats, goes to the bathroom, or even sleeps? Take Sora for example, he can't go around for a year-ish length of time, and not sleep once! No wonder Donald can be so cranky! Lol! **

**Well anyways! ENJOY!*****

Chapter 12- _POKE!_

**Axel pov**

Kaori sat on the bed eating a plate piled with pancakes, topped with homemade syrup and whipped cream. She ate greedily and I wondered vaguely when her last meal was. Kaori absentmindedly wiped her mouth on her sleeve, leaving a long trail of cream. She then tried to ask something, but the words got lost in the mouth full of pancake.

I think she asked for orange juice, but I wasn't sure.

"What? Didn't quite catch that."

She scowled, swallowed (Hey! I rhymed! I think…), and muttered, "Do you know where Ingrid is…?"

_Nope, wrong…_

I shrugged. Kaori huffed, and took another forkful. "Thanks, that was _really _helpful," she said sarcastically through bites and I gave her a thumbs up. She sighed and shook her head. Kaori placed the empty plate on the floor, and crawled over to sit across from me.

"So…" she sighed, but words were stranded as she fell silent, staring at her hands. I watched her silently. Why was she always sad…? She always tried to keep a frown on her face… it was as if she _wanted _it there… I picked up her hand, wanting to comfort her somehow. I held back a jump as cold fire ricocheted up my arm.

"You're freezing!" I exclaimed softly and tried to warm it up.

"Yeah, I know. It's kind of a normal thing for me." She confirmed, pulling her hand away. She stared at her hands, steadily turning purple-er.

"You get cold _really _easily…" I stressed. She shrugged.

"I really don't notice it unless someone brings it up," she looked up at me, but quickly turned away.

"Sorry…" I said. She shrugged and sighed again.

"It's okay." Then Kaori held up a finger.

"One "q": where did this bed come from?" Her question confused me I had to admit.

"Sorry…?"

"The bed… where did the cot, stretcher thingy go…?" Her voice cracked like an awed child's and I laughed.

"Stop laughing at me!" she almost shrieked.

"I'm—"

"Don't you _dare _say it!"

"Say what?" I asked, laughter still in my voice.

Her shoulders sagged as she grumbled and glared up at me, "You know! The whole, "I'm not laughing _at _you, I'm laughing _with _you,"! It's bullcrap! Because I'M NOT LAUGHING!"

I was silent, taken aback, staring at her as Kaori breathed heavily, red hot with anger.

I forgot how to speak for a few moments before I finally squeaked, "Okay, okay, calm down." It took a moment, but before long, her scowl vanished. It was like nothing had happened.

"Sorry… I don't know why I said that…"

I shrugged, "You may have uncovered a memory."

"Yay," she muttered sarcastically, her chin in her hands.

"Alright, come with me," I ordered getting off the bed. "We're going for a walk." I offered a hand for her to take. Sighing, she took it, and I heaved her off the bed.

**Kaori pov**

My fingers slid into his warm palm, calloused over time. I felt weird, but let him help me up and lead us out of the clinic. As soon as cool air had hit my face, I let go, and trailed behind slowly.

Cold wind broke through my sweater as I listened to the loud crunch of snow under my feet… _packing _snow,I thought mischievously and ran to catch up. I shivered violently, my teeth chattering noisily. Axel glanced down at me, wearing a worried expression.

He slinked his hand into mine. I held back a giggle and stared at my feet as we walked.

I felt warm… it was as if all the cold had been taken away. It was summer and I forgot all about that weird feeling.

I let loose another bubbly giggle and clamped my mouth shut, my cheeks flushing red. I was hoping, _praying_, that Axel hadn't heard. I tried to keep them locked away in my tongue and pressed Axel's arm into my side, my cheeks still hot.

He began to move more quickly, surprising me.

It was almost _too _fast, seeing as he was practically dragging me along. I started to laugh childishly, drunk with joy… Then without even thinking, or even _realizing_, I stopped sharply and hurriedly wiped my expression clean. Axel faltered, and we almost toppled over.

It so happens that I had spoken too early.

It was a sharp realization that hit me like a stone. Snow snuck down the top of my shirt and my hands were numb, frozen. The wind lashed at my face like a whip. I shook as I tried to stand, afraid that if I opened my mouth I might scream. I shook violently, every inch of my exposed skin purple.

My eyes widened, and my breath came out in sharp huffs. My head hurt… but I didn't know why. I tried to call out, but my mouth was dry, and my throat stung. I panicked and fell.

I didn't think I would move again and whispered hoarsely, incoherent.

I didn't know where he was, so I jumped at Axel's touch. He caressed my cheek and jerked his hand back as soon as our skin had touched.

"Your skin is _ice_!" he moaned.

I moved my snow-clogged hair out of my eyes and peered up at him. I shivered as he ignored me, trying to warm up his own frost-bitten fingers. _No duh jackass… ugh… so… cooooollllld! _I thought to myself and touched my fingers to my cheek. When I looked up I jumped; he was right in front me. Axel's palms faced up, as if waiting for permission. Snowflakes that fell on them melted instantly.

"What?" my voice was a croak, confused. _If you're going to help me, hurry it up…_

He reached out, an inch from my chin, "Do you want me to help?" _Huh… that's a switch… but YES! _I nodded my head.

He sighed, told me to hold still (or tight, whatever it was), and ran his fingers along my jaw line. He was barely touching me, but that touch was enough to send warm shivers through my veins. It heated my entire body, and it tickled.

I quickly pulled away, giggling. Axel stared at me with this confused expression that made me giggle even more. He pulled me into a tight hug, and ruffled my hair. I swatted his hand away after I got over my stunned self.

"I hope you know… that you giggle… too much," he grunted as he wrestled with me. I laughed sarcastically, but then I couldn't _stop_ laughing… I yanked myself out of his head-lock, and pushed him away.

"Humph," I huffed, sticking my nose in the air, and stalked back up the pathway.

"Oh, no you don't!" Axel muttered and chased after me. We ended up playing catch-me-if-you-can… or in a more simpler term: tag. I wouldn't be surprised if we woke the entire world up. I shrieked as Axel snuck up behind me, and tackled me into the snow.

Someone yelled, "SHUT UP!" and slammed their window closed. _Why was it open in the first place? _

We laughed hysterically as we lay on a snow-free patch of grass; the trampled fluff was piled up somewhere else. I breathed heavily as I swatted my hair out of my eyes, and poked Axel's side.

"AAH!"

I snorted and I poked him again. And again. And again… _And _again! And all times, he failed to block my quick strikes. "Stop it!" he whined, kicking his feet. I laughed and sat up as Axel writhed on the ground.

"Oh, stop it you puss…" I muttered, and yanked him up. His lip trembled, flinching and jumping at my faux jabs.

_Poke!_

"STOP! Please!" I smirked as I blocked, and poked him again. "I'm gonna get bruises!" he muttered as he yelped, relying on dodging now. He jabbed me just below my rib and I jumped at him.

My arms were wrapped around him as I tickled his sides ruthlessly. He shrieked and tried to peel me off, but I was stubborn and wouldn't let go… like a leech.

Axel finally escaped, and hid behind a scrawny tree. I breathed heavily as I walked up to him; he began to squeal.

"TRUCE! Truce! Truce…" Axel begged me, backing away, with his hand held out. "Truce," he huffed again. I rolled my eyes and shook his outstretched hand.

"_Fine,"_ I said and shook my head. I sneaky smile split my lips as he turned away.

_POKE!_

***** Sorry! I thought this was a fun place to leave off! I promise I'll get them out in the next chapter! –reese**

**You can't promise that! –roxy**

**Shut up- reese**


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